Age of Extinction: Altered
by Wacko12
Summary: A sequel to my "Dark of the Moon Altered 2" Autobots and Decepticons are now both hunted by Cemetery Wind. But as the Autobots try to regroup and escape, secrets begin to arise as both races fight for survival. Leave reviews and no flames
1. Autobots & Decepticons

**Some people have been asking me to do a variant of "Age of Extinction" for my fanfic "Dark of the Moon Altered 2". So, without further ado, here it is and please enjoy. FYI, the list of transformers will not show who lives and who dies, that would ruin the surprise.**

 **Autobots:**

Optimus Prime

Bumblebee

Ironhide

Ratchet

Jazz

Sideswipe

Jolt

Elita-1

Chromia

Arcee

Skids

Mudflap

Wheelie

Jetfire

Brains

Wheeljack

Mirage

Leadfoot

Roadbuster

Topspin

Steeljaw

Hound

Drift

Crosshair

Grimlock

Swoop

Slug

Scorn

Slash

Sludge

Snarl

Prowl

Cliffjumper

Silverbolt

Breakaway

Air Raid

Warpath

Evac

Omega Supreme

Fixit

Rewind

Camshaft

Flak

 **Decepticons:**

Megatron/Galvatron

Shockwave

Soundwave

Barricade

Blackout

Brawl

Bonecrusher

Long Haul

Sideways

Laserbeak

Starscream

Thundercracker

Skywarp

Rampage

Mixmaster

Scrapper

Dropkick

Thrust

Jetstorm

Dirge

Overcast

Wreckage

Stinger

Ramjet

Divebomb

Flatline

Incinerator

Fracture

Stockade

Swindle

Payload

Dreadwing

Astrotrain

Overkill

Sunstorm

Grindor

 **Neutrals:**

Lockdown

Hangnail


	2. Prologue Part 1: Hunting

**I am sure some people will say that this chapter is a bit short. But I did not want to get you all impatient. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and be sure to review!**

 **(Nighttime, America, Unknown Location)**

It was the dead of night around an old, abandoned shipyard. The only noise were the sounds of animals nearby, the moving of the wind blowing against stone, grass, metal and water. But, that slowly began to change as moving cars started to drive in, with Apache helicopters flying above them. All vehicles were armed and so were their occupants. As they neared the port, the vehicles spread out into a parameter, blocking any escape routes, with the helicopters hovering overhead, ready for action. From the cars, armed men began coming out, weapons raised and ready to kill.

Amongst them was a grey-haired man, clearly the leader of this group. He spoke to several operatives near him. "Take squad 7 to cover the left flank, squad 2, cover the right. All other squads will move down the center." James Savoy of Cemetery Wind said. The two operatives nodded and lead their respective squad towards their ordered position.

Meanwhile Savoy began contacting the helicopters above. "This is Leader, calling Striker 1. Any visuals?" Savoy asked through his comm.

Above in one of the helicopters, the pilot spoke. "Negative sir, no visual on-wait." The pilot paused when he noticed something new on his screen. "I'm detecting an energy signature in the warehouse up ahead. Confirmed Cybertronian!"

At that moment, the said warehouse exploded, startling the operatives. From the dust, Jetfire came running out, axe at the ready and missile cannon activated. Without wasting a second, the former Decepticon fired a rocket, destroying one of the cars and sending the men nearby flying. Savoy managed to dodge the debris as he took cover behind a broken car. As some of his men began firing on the fleeing Jetfire, Savoy began giving out orders.

"All operatives, the target is moving. Return to vehicles immediately. Strikers, keep your sights on target and pursue. Remember, this one is a flyer, so get anti-air weapons ready!" Savoy ordered as he headed back to the car, followed by the other operatives. Meanwhile the helicopters had already begun to pursue Jetfire.

Jetfire cursed as he fired another rocket. "Damn humans…" He muttered as he tried to transform while under fire.

He had just begun to take off when rockets struck his back. From the helicopters came a barrage of bullets and rockets, while soldiers from the vans fired FM-92 Stinger missiles. He could feel his wings being blown off and one of his thrusters destroyed, forcing Jetfire to make a crash landing. With no other choice, Jetfire transformed again back into his robot mode. As the helicopters moved in Jetfire raised his axe. Targeting the nearest chopper, the ancient Seeker swung his weapon, cutting off its tail. The pilots screamed as they violently crashed into the ground, consumed in flames.

Despite that, the rest did not halt their assault. "We got a fighter!" One soldier cheered in glee, not at all bothered by his comrades' deaths.

"All units switch to armor-piercing rounds." Savoy ordered as he loaded his rifle. Some operatives used grenade launchers, launching barrages of explosive rounds that struck Jetfire. The Apaches doubled their efforts as they joined their comrades on the assault.

Jetfire continued fighting back, but was starting to falter under the human's relentless assault. By the time they halted, he was missing his left arm, the lower part of his right leg, and sparks could be seen over his body, as well as energon leaking out of his body.

Letting out a gasp, Jetfire used his axe-cane to support himself. "Blasted humans, no honor whatsoever." Jetfire cursed to himself.

Deeming that Jetfire could no longer fight back, Savoy casually walked closer towards the Seeker, his men ready to deliver the killing blow. "Not bad, Decepticon." Savoy commented mockingly.

Growling at the human, Jetfire responded, "I'm an Autobot, stupid meatbag."

Savoy snorted, "If so, why you attack us?" He asked.

"You think I'm an idiot?" Jetfire snapped. "Lord Prime told us that we were being hunted…by you humans!" He then played a message from Optimus.

" _This is Optimus Prime to all Autobots! Cease all contact with humans! I repeat, cease all contact with humans! We are being hunted! Lay low and stay hidden, stay together. Do not let the humans find you!"_

Once he was done playing the message, Jetfire continued. "You attacked Autobot City! Killed so many of us. Well, if you want to take me, then you'll be joining me!"

With that, Jetfire sprung up, axe raised, preparing to bring it down on the human. Startled by the Seeker's bold move, Savoy started to back up as his men prepared to fire. But suddenly, a projectile appeared and fatally struck Jetfire in the chest. The impact caused the elder Cybertronian to lose his axe and fall back on his back with a grunt.

From the nearby waters, a grey Cybertronian arose, his face wearing a cannon that slow slid back to reveal his green optics. The human operatives backed away as the Cybertronian walked up towards Jetfire. Said Seeker managed to look up to see his shooter, narrowing his optics. "You…I know you. The mercenary, Lockdown." Jetfire grunted.

"I'm honored that I am known by an ancient Seeker such as you, Jetfire." Lockdown said as he stood above him. "However, you're just like the rest of them. Autobots, Decepticons, like little children. Always fighting, making a mess out of the universe. Then _I've_ got to clean it up."

As he spoke, Lockdown's right arm changed into a menacing looking hook. "If you value your life, old timer, then you'll tell me what I want to know." Lockdown said as he leaned forward. "Tell me where Optimus Prime is."

Jetfire stared at Lockdown for a moment. As if he would sell out Optimus or the other Autobots. As a last act of defiance, the ancient Cybertronian spit energon in Lockdown's face, causing the mercenary to back up a little. "Never" Jetfire said.

And with that, Lockdown plunged his hook arm right through Jetfire's chest. The ancient Seeker gasped in pain. But rather than go down like that, Jetfire managed to grab his axe, and swung it at Lockdown, The Seeker struck the mercenary in the face, hard enough to leave a large cut on Lockdown's left cheekplate. Though annoyed by that, the mercenary was undeterred as he simply put his foot on Jetfire's chest, and with violent pull, ripped out Jetfire's spark. His optics flickered for a few seconds as the last of his life slowly began to fade away, the ancient Seeker, Jetfire, landed on the ground lifelessly with a soft thud. "Never is already here." Lockdown replied.

With Jetfire now dead, Lockdown walked away, crushing the Seeker's spark. "He's all yours." Lockdown said to Savoy, before transforming into his vehicle mode and speeding off. Savoy smirked sinisterly as he contacted his superiors about another Cybertronian going down.

None of them, however, noticed the pink Ducati 848 motorcycle standing on a nearby hill. After a few seconds, it's headlights lit up, a driver appearing, and then drove off away at top speed.

 **(Abandoned Airport)**

As he worked on another project, a communicator that would not attract the attention of the humans, Autobot inventor/scientist, Wheeljack, could overhear the argument between Ironhide and Jazz, with Ratchet standing nearby. The other occupants, Sideswipe, Jolt and Mirage, were watching the perimeter, though were listening to the conversation a little.

"Calm down, Ironhide. Going gung ho an't going to help the situation." Jazz ordered the taller mech.

Ironhide growled in aggravation. "I can't take any of this slag anymore!" Ironhide bellow, causing the ground to rumble a little. "We've been on the run for three years, and have not once done any drastic counter. How much longer are we going to have to keep running with our afts in the air?"

Jazz glared at the weapon specialist, not the least bit intimidated. "You remember Optimus' orders. Avoid human contact at all cost. Right now, humanity thinks all of us are the enemy, attacking them would just increase their fears." Jazz retorted. "Our best bet to survive is to keep moving from state to state, searching for survivors and Optimus."

Jazz's words made Wheeljack think back to the past three years. Ever since the battle of Chicago, humanity had begun to fear Cybertronians, both Autobots and Decepticons. With pressure building up from both the population and congress, the President had to dissolve NEST and the treaty with the Autobots. Despite that, the Autobots were granted asylum, and as more began to arrive, they started to settle on the former NEST base, Diego Garcia. While Autobot City as it was called was being built, the Autobots also built a base in Grand Canyon, given permission to mine the energon deposit there. For a while, things begin to settle down.

But that changed three years ago. From the CIA, a new black ops unit called Cemetery Wind was born. Officially, Cemetery Wind was supposed to hunt down Decepticons, but also targeted the Autobots too. There first act was staging a full scale assault on Autobot City and the Grand Canyon base, half a year after Chicago. Unprepared, the Autobots stood no chance against the armed humans' assault, with many being killed right away. With no means to contact the U.S Government, Optimus ordered the Autobots to scatter and go into hiding. Many Autobots managed to make it through the Ground Bridge before it was destroyed. Omega Supreme, AKA the Ark, took off with the hatchlings found in Africa, as well as the Wreckers, the Twins, Elita-1 and Chromia. Wheeljack personally destroyed any copies of the space bridge he had been working on, as well as any Autobot technology he could not bring. Better they be destroyed then used against them.

So, for the past three years, the Autobots had been on the run from Cemetery Wind, as they hunted down both them and Decepticons. Some had tried surviving on their own, while a few had managed to form small groups and hold out, hence the current situation. Jazz and the others had been moving from county to county, hiding in abandoned towns, factories and facilities, all the while searching for other Autobots and Optimus.

Ironhide growled, looking like he wanted to attack the lieutenant. It was then that Ratchet came in and broke the fighting. "That's enough you two, fighting amongst ourselves won't do any good in solving our current situation. Let's wait for Arcee to return from her scouting trip." The senior medic said as Ironhide and Jazz backed off from one another.

Ironhide's anger was understandable. The weapon specialist was not known for running away from a fight. The fact that the humans had turned on them, after the Autobots sacrificed everything, their own planet, just made him angry. Plus, Ironhide's current behavior because there had been no contact from the Ark since the attack on Autobot City. That included his sparkmate, Chromia, who had been on the ship.

It was at that moment that the same pink motorcycle came driving towards the Autobot group. As she neared the mechs, Arcee transformed halfway before coming to a halt before the taller Cybertronians. Sideswipe, Jolt, Mirage and Wheeljack joined the four as they listened to what Arcee found.

Sadly, she had no good news as the pink femme shook her head. "Jetfire is dead." Arcee reported sadly. "I got there too late to help before he was killed." The femme finished.

Hearing the Seeker's death did not do good for the Autobots' morale. Ever since he was revived after the Fallen's death, Jetfire worked hard to atone for the crimes he caused during his time as a Decepticon. Most notably, he had fought valiantly during the battle of Chicago, facing against squadrons of Decepticon flyers and bringing them down with great determination. To hear of his death was greatly disheartening for the group, as they hadn't found any other surviving Autobots the whole month.

"That makes the fifth one this year." Ratchet lamented.

Mirage nodded. "It seems like the bastardos are becoming more adapt in locating us. We'd had best be ready to move soon." The red mech commented.

At that moment, Wheeljack's communicator sprang to life, startling the Autobots. Static filled the air as distorted voices could be heard. The inventor ran up to the device and tried to strengthen the signal. The others soon joined him, surrounding the table. "Is it an Autobot?" Sideswipe asked.

"Has to be, this communicator was designed to lock onto Autobot frequencies. Now give me a sec while I try to get a fix on the signal." Wheeljack replied.

After a few minutes, the signal began to clear up. A voice could be heard. "…Hound here…attack…Cemetery Wind…need…assistance…Bumblebee…Drift and Crosshairs..."

"Hound? I haven't heard from him since Autobot City." Ironhide said in surprise of hearing the Autobot Commando's voice.

"And did he say Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.

"Drift and Crosshair are with him, too." Jolt added.

Jazz looked at Wheeljack. "Can you pinpoint their location?" Jazz asked the inventor.

Wheeljack typed in a few commands into the device. "It's not solid, but they're about two miles west from here. Looks like an abandoned factory." Wheeljack said.

"Okay, Arcee, help Wheeljack pack up. Something tells me we'll be looking for a new hideout. The rest of you, we've got Autobots to save!" Jazz ordered as he and the others transformed and headed out, hoping they were not too late.

 **(With Bumblebee's Group)**

"Move your afts in gear, bots!" Crosshairs shouted as he fired several shots at their pursuers.

Beside him, Drift had his swords out, deflecting rockets. "I'm detecting several enemy helicopters heading towards us." Drift said as he sliced through another rocket.

:Let's move deeper into the factory! They won't risk chasing after us in closed spaces!: Bumblebee said through the comm-link as he dodged some projectiles.

"Hound, get your fat ass moving!" Crosshairs shouted towards the commando, who was running up to them.

"Shut yer trap, Crosshairs." Hound yelled, not even flinching when a rocket hit him in the back. "I an't that slow!"

The group of four made it inside one of the buildings, not bothering to turn on the lights, as it would attract Cemetery Wind. They stayed quiet as they listened to the sound of Apaches whirling overhead, searching for them. Using their scanners, the Autobots could tell that the operatives on the ground were hesitant of moving forward, as going into tight spaces would give the Autobots the advantage.

"Let's try to find another exit, then we can slip past them." Drift suggested, getting nods of agreement from the others. As they were about to move, a voice made them pause.

"I know you're in there…Bumblebee, was it?" A voice speaking through a loudspeaker said. "This is Sergeant Brandon J. Khendsovan. You might not know me, but I was a part of NEST before leaving." Brandon added.

The name made Hound frown. "I know him. The bastard defected when we caught him selling weapons to terrorists." The commando muttered in disgust.

"Why don't you surrender, Bumblebee. You're outnumbered and surrounded." Brandon continued. "After all, you don't want anything to happen to your friend's family, right?" He asked, sinisterly.

Bumblebee froze, memories coming back to him. Three years ago, when Cemetery Wind had attacked Autobot City, Bumblebee was with Sam and Mikaela, parked near Mikaela's owned vehicle repair station at the time. Their infant son, Daniel Witwicky, was being cared for by his grandparents, Sam's parents, when Cemetery Wind appeared. Their vehicles had surrounded the station and they were speaking with Sam and Mikaela, demanding the whereabout of any Autobots, saying that all Transformers were illegal. Bumblebee had only realized how bad these people were too late, when the soldiers got into a fight with the couple, and guns firing started. Quickly transforming and smashing aside several Cemetery Wind vehicles, Bumblebee could only look on in horror as he stared at the bodies of his best friend and his wife, in a pool of their own blood. Even though the yellow bot wanted nothing more than kill the operatives, he knew that he was outnumbered and that fighting would just endanger innocent bystanders. So, with a heavy heart, Bumblebee was forced to flee, though not before calling the hospital so that Sam and Mikaela's bodies could be found and given proper burials. The next few weeks after that, Bumblebee made sure that David and Sam's parents were safe before eventually heading out to find other Autobots.

Now, hearing these men, no, these monsters, threatening Sam's remaining family caused anger to rise in Bumblebee's spark. The fact that they planned on murdering an innocent child like Daniel, who couldn't have been more than two years old right now, only caused Bee's fury to rise. This was something the other Autobots noticed. "Oh, Bee. Don't listen to the ass. He's just trying to bait you!" Crosshairs hissed.

Unfortunately, Brandon's next words were, "We will kill them, as they are charged with treason for siding with alien threats. Though, my superiors might want us to bring in the baby, Daniel, right? After all, we'd always need new recruits."

That had been the last straw. Sliding down his mask, Bumblebee broke through the factory walls, plasma cannon ready. With a roar, the yellow bot shot down two nearby Apaches. The remaining Apaches flew in towards the mech, followed by the Cemetery Wind cars. Bumblebee did not let up, as he kept firing plasma bolts at the oncoming attackers, and a few rockets too.

"Aw slag" Crosshairs cursed as he drew out his machine pistols and joined Bumblebee.

"Though to be fair, threatening innocents is unacceptable." Drift commented as he joined his comrades. Behind him, Hound came charging out, roaring alongside his triple barrel mini-gun.

"Take that, bitches!" Hound yelled as he mowed down three black vans. An Apache tried to take a shot at the Autobot, only to be brought down when Drift cut off its tail rotor.

Seeing this, the remaining Apaches flew higher and remained at a safe distance before continuing to lay down fire on the Autobots. Meanwhile the vans had begun doing zig zags around the Autobots, avoiding being hit while at the same time firing back. Though the various smoke stacks and buildings limited their maneuverability, they also made good cover for them too. In a few minutes, the Autobots were soon pinned down as Cemetery Wind moved in for the kill. But that changed when an explosion unexpectedly occurred, hitting one of the vans from behind, sending it tumbling through the air before violently hitting the ground. Several more vans were hit and another Apache went down.

"Autobots, attack!" Jazz yelled as he transformed and opened fire with his shied blaster. Ironhide soon joined him, followed by the others. Mirage and Sideswipe dealt with the vans, using their blades to slice them apart, while Ratchet and Jolt focused on the Apaches. Ironhide fires his rocket cannons that destroyed one van on contact, and sent another flying. He and Jazz began making their way towards the four Autobots.

"Ha, ha! Reinforcements are here!" Hound cheered as he helped Drift, whose left leg had been hit by an RPG rocket.

Jazz stood beside Crosshairs, firing alongside the paratrooper. "We got your transmission! Just glad we managed to make it here on time." The lieutenant said.

"Damn good timing too! Otherwise we might be nothing but wrecks!" Crosshairs replied.

Bumblebee ignored all this as he scanned the battlefield, looking for the van that Brandon was in. Eventually, the yellow mech spotted the vehicle heading away from the battle. With a growl, Bumblebee transformed and gave chase.

"Bee! Where ya going?!" Ironhide roared as the scout drew off. The weapon specialist quickly transformed and drove after the yellow bot.

"Bugger lost his slagging processor!" Crosshairs cursed as he finished off the last van.

Back with Bumblebee, said mech had finally caught up to Brandon's van, all the while ignoring the grenades and bullets fired at him. Activating his stealth force, Bumblebee opened fire on the black car. Eventually, the van made a hard, stiff turn due to the fire it was taking. That gave Bee a chance to transform before delivering a powerful kick to the van. The blow sent the vehicle flying before crashing hard on the ground, skidding a few seconds before coming to a stop. The impact also damaged the engine, causing flames to leak out.

Bumblebee slowly made his way towards the crashed van, keeping his optics opened for any movements. That's when one of the back windows was broken, glass flying everywhere as a fist stuck popped out. Slowly, it was followed by a man wearing a black ski mask and torn up and bloody Cemetery Wind uniform crawled out. He was clearly in pain if the coughs and grunts were any indication. Though the man's face was obscured, the noise he was making was enough for Bumblebee to identify him as Brandon.

Shifting his right arm into his signature plasma cannon, Bumblebee slowly raised it towards the crawling man. With a cold glare in his optics, Bumblebee said, _"Hasta la vista, bitch"_ And fired. The last thing Brandon saw was a plasma bolt flying out of Bee's cannon towards him. The projectile struck him, taking him and the van up in flames as the vehicle exploded.

As the smokes from the flames reached the sky, Bumblebee stared on apathetically. He did not seem to even notice Ironhide, who had caught up and transformed. Placing a hand on the yellow mech's shoulder, Ironhide asked, "Bee, what the slag was that all about?"

The weapon specialist got no response from Bumblebee, saved for the yellow mech to brush his hand off. Without a word, Bumblebee transformed and drove off to regroup with the others. Ironhide kept his optics on the scout, a look in them saying that Ironhide had a feeling of what caused Bumblebee to become so ruthless right now. He then turned his attention back to the burning van, noticing the scorched corpse sticking out of it. Eventually Ironhide transformed into his alt mode and left.

 **And there you have it, folks! I hope none of you are too angry about Sam and Mikaela's fate, but I couldn't really think of what else to do with them. As for Jetfire, I do like the guy, don't get me wrong. But out of all the Autobots, I believed he was the better choice to kill off.**


	3. Prologue Part 2: Searching

**Here is chapter 3! In this chapter, we'll be meeting some new characters, and some old ones. Be sure to review and I hope you enjoy this.**

 **(Antarctica)**

Lockdown watched from the top of his ship, hidden behind the snowy mountains, as the human helicopter, a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion, that carried his 'business partner' was making its way towards him. Lockdown noted that there were no other aircrafts with escorting the chopper. That meant that the human was either foolish enough to come alone, or had other forces hiding somewhere. It didn't mean anything to Lockdown, the Cybertronian was already in a sour mood. Behind Lockdown were several of his mercenaries, cyber-wolves, and finally his second-in-command, Hangnail. True, it would seem like overkill against a single human and a chopper, but Lockdown felt that it would be necessary to give a show of force. To show them that Lockdown was not a mech to be fooled.

Hangnail made a disgruntle noise as his optics watch the helicopter land. "Damn human, always coming here as if he was the boss of us." Hangnail complained.

"Such is the typical behavior amongst his species." Lockdown commented as Harold Attinger, leader of Cemetery Wind, walked off the chopper. "Nevertheless, his organization has proven useful towards our goal…for now." He finished as he walked towards the human.

"I thought you had managed to track Prime to New Mexico." Lockdown said to Attinger, not even bothering with pleasantries.

"We did, but he escaped us." Attinger replied. "Our forces were spread thin when we were taking down that Decepticon cell in Hawaii."

"Don't give me excuses, human. I was there when your men assaulted Starscream's base." Lockdown retorted. "If it weren't for me, you would have been slaughtered. Were you at least able to locate his current position."

"No, he's covering his tracks well. We believe he's somewhere in one of the neighboring states." Was the answer the mercenary got.

Lockdown let out a disgusted snort. "So much for human intelligence. Your kind is too much like children, always needing supervision." He said out loud before leveling a glare towards Attinger. "Know this, Mr. Attinger of Earth. Contracts, like humans, can…expire." He gave a glance towards the chopper. "Whether by accident or on purpose."

If Attinger felt insulted by that, he did not show it. Lockdown had to give the human credit on that, he knew how to hide his emotions well. It was one of the reason why he ever agreed to this deal. That, and it made it easier for Lockdown to operate.

"I'm aware of the contract's stipulation." Attinger said evenly.

Lockdown grinned. "Well, at least you're not that slow." He said mockingly. "And as we agreed, one Prime, for one Seed. Nothing more, nothing less. Provided you can actually find him."

"We're working on it." Attinger said.

Lockdown rolled his optics as he walked away. "I don't feel assured…" He commented as he headed back into his ship. Hangnail and his army followed behind him. The mercenary didn't even watch if the chopper had left.

Once he was inside his ship, a mercenary walked up to him. "Lockdown, sir. Our other guest is waiting for you." The Cybertronian mercenary reported.

"Good, at least his timing has not changed." Lockdown mused as he headed down a hall, Hangnail walking beside him. A few minutes later, the duo were in a large, circular room. Inside the room were more mercenaries, their weapons out, but it was trio of mechs in the center that Lockdown focused on. One was a large blue Cybertronian that appeared to possess a flying alt mode. The largest was a purple and grey mech that stood above all the other occupants. The last one was a familiar, menacing looking purple mech, with a right arm-cannon, and a sinister red optic. Despite their intimidating appearance, Lockdown casually walked up to them. The blue con was Thundercracker, a former Seeker who also transformed into a F-22 Raptor. The larger mech was Astrotrain, one of the rare few triple-changers, who transformed into an 800 Series Shinkansen and NASA Space Shuttle.

The mercenary approached the third Con of the group. "I suppose you are here to see the captives, Shockwave." Lockdown said to the Decepticon assassin.

"You are correct, Lockdown. I hope you don't mind the others' presence. They are merely here to…keep your men in check." Shockwave said in his usual cold, emotionless voice.

Lockdown knew that the other Decepticons were there to watch Shockwave's back, something the mercenary doubt was necessary. Shockwave hadn't earned his infamy just because of his ruthless logic, but also because of his incredible strength that rivalled Megatron's. In fact, Lockdown was pretty sure the one-eye Con could kill the majority of his forces on his own. Despite that, Shockwave was the only Decepticon Lockdown had any respect for. They both shared a cold, emotionless outlook on life, not allowing petty things such as emotions to control them, and combined with his logical thinking, Shockwave made the perfect client, sometimes business partner, for Lockdown. But the mercenary did not say any of that out loud.

"As per our agreement, any Decepticons you manage to capture will be given the chance to either serve the Decepticon cause or be terminated." Shockwave said. "I assume that the humans have yet to locate Optimus Prime?"

"Yes, their incompetence is beginning to annoy me." Lockdown commented with a growl. "I still cannot fathom why you believe I should be working with them."

In the past, when Lockdown first defected from the Decepticons, it was Shockwave who had assisted Lockdown and his followers in acquiring the Knight's Ship that the mercenary now uses as his vessel. The scientist/assassin deduced that there would come a time when Shockwave would need Lockdown's skills and the mercenary would have to repay his debt to him. That time came after the battle of Chicago, when Megatron was put into a stasis lock caused by his fatal injuries. The Decepticons had split into two groups; one led by the ambitious Starscream, and the other led by Shockwave, though publicly led by Blackout, while some set out on their own. When Cemetery Wind began hunting down all Cybertronians, Shockwave knew that this could prove to be an advantage for him and the resurrection of Megatron.

Then Lockdown came, having taken up a contract from the mysterious Creators to retrieve Optimus Prime. Shockwave saw an opportunity to complete two objectives: the revival of Megatron and restoration of Cybertron. Contacting Lockdown upon his arrival to Earth, Shockwave had the mercenary fulfill the debt he owed the Decepticon. The deal was that Shockwave would assist Lockdown and the Creators in finding and capturing Optimus, in return, Lockdown would eliminate any Decepticons that would not submit, and give Shockwave a Seed to help the Decepticons build a new army. In order for the plan to work, Shockwave suggested to Lockdown to work with Cemetery Wind, under the guise of giving the humans the Seed. Though the mercenary disdained the idea, there were benefits allying with the humans. That way, Lockdown would have more freedom hunting down Optimus, while also able to eliminate any Autobots found and rebel Decepticons.

"True, the humans are not the most efficient species. But they are useful, they will take the brunt of any possible counterattacks, while my forces prepare for Megatron's return, as well as restoring Cybertron." Shockwave commented as he and Lockdown reached the containment center.

Lockdown pressed a few buttons, and soon several cells opened. Inside were a few Decepticons, the survivors of Starscream's forces. Among them were Barricade, Bonecrusher, Sideways, Long Haul, Scrapper, Mixmaster and Rampage. The rest were mostly Protoforms and in total were fourteen survivors. They all looked up as Lockdown and Shockwave entered. Many of them were surprised to see the one-eye Con with the mercenary.

"I'll leave you to your own." Lockdown said to Shockwave as he walked away. "I still have work to do."

 **(Texas)**

An old blue Jeep Wrangler was parked in an old parking lot. Lying down in the back, a kid was slowly getting up from sleep, as the rising sun peeked through the window curtains. As if following his example, the van itself made a rumbling noise, as if waking up too. "Good morning, Adam" A male voice from the radio said.

The kid, Adam, yawned as he stretched his arms. At the age of twelve, he was at average height one his age would be at. His skin was slightly tan, showing that he had been out under the sun good enough. His short, brown hair was currently a mess, with strands sticking out due to his tossing and turning in bed. They appear to contrast with his light blue eyes that currently had a tired look in them. Presently, he was wearing a short-sleeve orange shirt with a cog on the front, and revealed his prosthetic left arm. Finally, he wore plain, white shorts and was currently barefoot. Beside him was a pillow, a thin blanket, and a small fan that was still spinning, letting cool air fill the cobalt. "Good morning, Evac." Adam greeted back. He got a honk from the delivery van in return.

It had been over three years since Adam has been traveling with the Autobot, Evac. A survivor of the battle of Chicago, Adam's mother had been killed by the Decepticons, effectively making him an orphan. Not wanting to be stuck in a foster care, Adam struck out on his own, using the money from his mother's bank account, and whatever he could scavenge from the war-torn city. He had been traveling the state for five months, taking on small jobs that made use of his skills with computers and machines, and staying in either motels or abandoned buildings. Adam had kept with him a baton, taser and M-26 stun gun for protection, the latter he had found from a destroyed Chicago police station. On the third month he had met Evac, and Autobot who had survived the attack on Autobot City.

Despite his mother's death, Adam was not stupid enough to confuse the Autobots with Decepticons, the former having saved humanity from a lifetime of slavery. Though their relationship started out shaky, Adam and Evac became good friends and with the Autobot's aid, the duo began traveling the country together, avoiding Cemetery Wind and trying to find other Autobots. Whenever Evac was low on energy, Adam would go and buy fuel for the Autobot, under the guise as an assistant for Evac's hologram driver.

As he got up, Adam felt something small tapped his leg. Looking down, the young human saw a small metallic brown Cybertronian, no bigger than his hand. Smiling, Adam said, "Morning Rewind."

Also, it wasn't just Adam and Evac. Even before his travels, Adam had been best friends with Rewind, an Allspark mutant. Formerly, he was nothing more than a brownish red Parrot AR Drone that had been given life by the Allspark at Mission City, and somehow took residence with Adam and his mother when Adam was just five. Unlike the other devices and vehicles given life by the Cube, he was not as violent as the others, having slowly regained sentience during the first few months when he was given life. Since then, Rewind has proven to be helpful and very friendly. Rewind's true form was around the same height of a human child, but he could make himself smaller, by separating himself into smaller components, each with a part of Rewind's conscious. Normally, he would remain inside Adam's backpack, coming out now and then or when Adam needed his help.

"Morning, boss." Rewind said, waving at Adam. Meanwhile, the other parts of him came out of the backpack, which served as their 'bed' and stretching their small servos, preparing for the new day.

Getting ready for the new day, Adam brushed his teeth, packed his stuff, put his shoes on, ate a quick candy bar, and then jumped out of Evac's rear door. He waited as Rewind got comfortable inside his backpack, minus one component that transformed into digital watch, latching onto Adam's left wrist. Evac transformed, the large blue mech stretching his servos and adjusting his optics to the sunlight. "What's the plan today, Adam?" Evac asked.

"Well, I figure we go by that Energon signature you picked up yesterday." Adam replied as he scanned the area. They were near the outskirts of a small town, and thus were few humans to see the Cybertronian. "You sure it was an Autobot?"

"Yeah, but I lost the signal briefly in Mexico City before it came back, and then lost it again. My guess is that they went into stasis lock." Evac explained as he changed back into his alt mode.

"Well, let's hope it's just stasis. Otherwise this is going to be a waste of time." Adam said as he sat in the passenger seat while Evac's hologram appeared on the driver seat. The van took off, heading towards the highway. "Do we know what town they might be in?" Adam asked.

"I looked up on the web, and apparently the town was abandoned a few years ago after the highway was built." Evac explained as they entered the main road. "With the smaller roads not use as much, the town lost business and the population moved out."

"That makes sense, though. If you don't want to be found, then you'd hide in a place where there are no people." Adam commented as he took out his laptop. Despite being on the road, he was able to get Wifi thanks to Evac.

They continued driving on the highway for about another hour or two (with them having stopped at a service station so Adam could get some food to eat or use the restroom), before Evac made a turn onto a small, local road. The road was clearly old judging by how unkept it had been, with various cracks on the pavement, as well as how there was no signs of life to be seen for miles. By then Adam had fallen asleep, and Rewind crawled out of his backpack, curiously scanning the landscape.

As they finally neared the edge of a small town, where many buildings were abandoned, Evac did a sudden stop. It caused Adam to jerk forward and wake up from his nap. "Evac, what the hell?" Adam asked his friend's hologram. Rewind was also recovering, as he had hit the front glass window face first.

"The energon signature has started to move!" Evac hissed to Adam, while Rewind jumped back into the human's backpack.

Adam blinked at that piece of news. "Did the Autobot wake up?" He asked, though judging from Evac's expression, the answer would be different.

Sure enough, "No, judging from the rate of their movement, the Autobot is still in stasis. That means they're being moved by someone else." Evac explained.

"Do you think its Cemetery Wind?" Adam asked, subconsciously gripping his stun gun.

"Can't be. Past records show that those scum kill any Cybertronians they find. It wouldn't make any sense for them to change their style now." Evac added. His hologram's eyes widened when Adam hopped out. "Wait, Adam! Where are you going?" The Autobot asked as he transformed into his true form.

"To check it out. It be easier if I go alone, so that in the event it is Cemetery Wind they will be less likely to kill me." Adam explained to his friend. "Besides, I'll have Rewind with me. You can remain at the edge of the town in case I need you."

Evac still seemed uncomfortable, but nevertheless agreed to Adam's idea. He transformed back into vehicle mode and hid himself in the shadow of a nearby old house. Meanwhile, Adam walked deeper into the town, using Rewind's binocular mode to locate the energon source. After a few minutes of walking, Adam came upon an old movie theater. Using the binoculars, Adam could see two humans, both males and older than him. They had a pick-up truck with them, perhaps too tow some vehicle or other junk they could scavenge. True enough, the two humans began pulling out what looked like a dilapidated cab-over truck out of the theater, completely covered in dirt and rust. "I'm detecting faint energon from that truck, boss. That has to be Autobot!" Rewind said as he transformed back into robot mode.

However, Adam had not heard him. The moment the truck came into his line of sight, Adam began to feel an incredible pain from his chest, his heart beating rapidly, as if a switch had been flipped. A wave of nausea and blurry visions filled his sight. It became difficult for Adam to breathe and he had to lean on a nearby wall for support. Seeing his unusual behavior, Rewind's components transformed and combined together as the Cybertronian stood beside his friend. "Adam! What's wrong? Adam!" Rewind cried as the young teen collapsed on the ground.

Adam could not hear him, his vision going dark. All he could see right now were small dots of light before his consciousness began to fade. The last thing he saw was someone approaching him. Then everything went black.

 **Hoped you all enjoyed that chapter! Be sure to leave a review!**

 **Wacko12**


	4. Old and New Faces

**Please be sure to give me lots of reviews! Reviews make me happy and make me want to write more! And not just "Add more!" or "Update soon!" comments.**

 **(Russia, Mount Yamantau)**

Buried deep within the Ural Mountains, Mount Yamantau, was an old Soviet Base that was hidden away for years. The US always believed that the Soviets kept a base there, but could never find proof of its actual existence. That didn't mean there wasn't one, and it had been built with the sole purpose of studying the Decepticon Shockwave, who had been marooned on Earth several years before the battle at Mission City. After the Soviet's fall, the hidden base was abandoned and so was a frozen Shockwave…until Megatron discovered him and freed his old friend from confinement.

Since then it has served as a Decepticon base on Earth, and after the battle of Chicago, Shockwave and his followers retreated there to lick their wounds and prepare for their next move. For the past five years, they have been digging through nearly the entire Ural Mountains, slowly expanding their base through the natural structure, while mining natural resources to convert into needed energon.

In one of the many underground rooms, Overkill, a yellow and white Decepticon that transformed into Bugatti Veyron sports car, was manning a large machine that looked similar to a gate. Approaching him was Brawl, third in command of the forces there. If Shockwave nor Blackout were present, it was Brawl who commanded Megatron's loyalists. "Any word from Shockwave?" The tank Decepticon asked.

"We've just received a transmission from him, sir. I'm already activating the Ground Bridge." Overkill replied while pressing buttons on the terminal in front of him. Suddenly a portal appeared, with several silhouettes appearing. Finally, the group was through the portal, with Shockwave at the front, followed by Starscream, Rampage, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Barricade, Sideways, Thundercracker, Astrotrain and several Protoforms.

"Welcome back, Shockwave. I see that Lockdown has kept to your agreement." Brawl commented as he greeted the Decepticon assassin/scientist. However, the Con's optics narrowed when he spotted Starscream. "And he even let me have the honor of killing this traitor!" He snarled as he approached the former Air Commander, his harpoon cannon looking ferociously sharp right now.

Starscream stepped back, trying to hide behind Shockwave. Despite his skills, the Seeker knew that Brawl was no fan of him. The Decepticon combatant would've ripped Starscream apart if Shockwave did not intervene just now. "Hold, Brawl. Starscream has sworn loyalty to the Decepticon cause once more. After all, it's not like he can do much else." Shockwave said, raising his non-canon arm between the two Cons. He ignored the Seeker's glare in regards to the last comment.

Brawl still looked like he wanted to skewer Starscream, but backed down. "Very well. Thundercracker." The blue Seeker looked up. "Take Starscream with you and fill him in on our current objective. Then I want you two, along with Skywarp and Sunstom to prepare for patrol. Feel free to terminate this filth if he steps out of line." Brawl said, snarling the last part while glaring at Starscream.

"Understood." Thundercracker replied before pushing the former Air Commander along.

Shockwave looked up at Astrotrain. "Take the rest to be repaired and fitted. Than have them prepare to move out." Shockwave told his right hand

"Got it" The Triple-Changer replied before ushering Barricade, Sideways, the Constructicons and the Decepticon Protoforms to follow him. Overkill had already turned off the Ground Bridge and was going back to his business, leaving only Shockwave and Brawl.

"So, what is our current status?" Shockwave asked as the two Cons began walking through the base. They passed by several more Decepticons who were either busy doing the assignments given to them, or were simply on guard duty.

"We've confirmed that Starscream's forces in the Hawaiian Islands were the last major rebel cell against us. I've already dispatched Incinerator and several Vehicons to assist him in salvaging anything of use." Brawl reported.

"And what of our current Vehicon forces?" Shockwave asked as the two passed by a large factory below them. Once built for the Soviet's vehicles, now reconfigured to create the Decepticon's drone army, known as Vehicons. Though they had an impressive number of Cybertronian warriors, the need for drones to make up for the losses they suffered in Chicago was necessary. Despite not having sparks of their own, the drones did possess sentience, if only so that they can perform tasks that required thinking. The Vehicons' alt modes were either cars, tanks, jets, vans, helicopters, or motorcycles with black and grey color schemes. As for the actual Decepticons, some took on either alt modes, or preferred to remain in their protoforms.

"We have enough to comprise of several brigades at the moment. If we're efficient, we should have an entire division by the end of an Earth year." Brawl replied. "However, the minimal amount of combat data we can put into them makes them no better than cannon fodder."

Shockwave nodded in agreement. Such were the things with Vehicons. Though they may possess numbers and impressive firepower, it meant little if they had no combat experience. In most cases, Vehicons would have data of combat information downloaded into their CPU, to make them more efficient when in battle, with the amount downloaded determining how skilled they would be. With so little data to use, as well as what they have being slightly corrupted, the Vehicons would not be well suited for much in terms of important operations. Still they would suffice for now and would be more than capable of overwhelming human militaries, as well as small Autobot groups when backed up by Decepticons. "And our agents out on the field?" Shockwave asked as the two walked through a sliding door into another room. The equipment in there signified it as a lab/medical room.

"Currently we have Stockade, Fracture, Dropkick, Payload, Swindle, Wreckage, Divebomb, and Ramjet on the field. Those signal dampeners you invented are hiding them from the humans. Blackout also reported nothing new except that Lockdown's human partner is not being very honest with his government." Brawl explained. "I believe we should send Barricade, Sideways, and the four Constructicons out once they are repaired. They can fill in the missing spots."

"Agreed, Barricade's skills in eluding detection will be quite useful." Shockwave said.

"It is unfortunate, though, that Demolisher, Hightower and Overload did not survive. Without them the Constructicons will not be able to form Devastator." Brawl added.

"True, however, we will just have to make do with the four we have right now." Shockwave replied as the two entered a second, smaller room.

Inside the room was an operating table, with a body on it, while another Cybertronian was towering over the former. This Decepticon was black and red, and possessed a second pair of smaller arms, giving him an easier time with his work. This was Flatline, the Decepticon surgeon and medical officer. He also occasionally worked with Shockwave on certain projects related to his field of expertise.

Flatline noticed the visitors. "Ah, Shockwave, Commander Brawl. Glad to see you two have arrived. I've just finished with the final touches on our friend's new body." Flatline reported as he revealed to them the protoform he had been working on. The head had several cables connected to it, with the other side attached to a computer filled with Cybertronian letters as the data in the computer ran at an impressive rate. To the side on a smaller table was a spark casing, glowing with energy within.

"Then let us begin." Shockwave said as he approached the computer, typing in some commands as the data began to download into the protoform's CPU. Meanwhile, Flatline went to retrieve the spark casing. Brawl stood to the side, watching with eager optics as Flatline slowly placed the casing into the body, having already opened the spark chamber. Flatline watched as the tubes inside the protoform connected to the casing, showing that the body was not rejecting it.

Flatline brought up a holographic image of the protoform's stats from his built-in computer. "Vitals are normal. Optics and audio receptors are optimal, and T-Cog appears to be working." The Decepticon doctor announced as he pressed a few more buttons.

"Preparing data CPU download…now." Shockwave said as he pressed one last button. Electricity surged through the cables as the data from the computer transferred itself to the protoform's head. In a few seconds, its optics began to glow red and a gasp escaped its mouth. Its body jerked as it came to the sudden realization of being alive. Not the least bit surprised by its actions, Shockwave calmly approached the protoform as it slowly stood up.

"Welcome back from the Well of Sparks, Soundwave." Shockwave said to the newly revived Decepticon Communication Officer. "I see that you've retained all your functions."

"…Yes." Soundwave croaked, testing out his new voicebox. "I assume that my return is your doing, Shockwave." He asked the scientist/assassin.

"Even without the Allspark or the Matrix of Leadership, there are other ways to bring back the dead." Shockwave commented. "Fortunately, I saved a copy of your CPU, in the event of your death. After that it was simple of acquiring a new body, as well as a spark casing for your new spark. And you were not the only one I was able to resurrect."

On cue, a small figure flew down from the ceiling towards the gathered the Decepticons. It had the appearance of a robot condor with a navy blue color and red optics. The condor landed beside Soundwave's table. It let out a cawk as it stared at the reborn Decepticon. "Laserbeak." Soundwave said, recognizing the drone.

"Yes, I managed to repair him, using what remained of him and Ravage, granting him some of the latter's weaponry too. Unfortunately, the damage was too severe, that I had to divert power from everything but the basic functions for him to come back online. That includes his ability to speak." Shockwave explained as Laserbeak landed on Soundwave's arm. "Nevertheless, he will still be useful."

"I've already found some vehicle forms that I think will be good choices for your new alt mode, Soundwave. If you'd just follow me." Flatline said as he led the communication officer out of the operating room. At the same time, a Decepticon came in, walking up towards the two Decepticons.

"Sir, we've just picked up an unusual energy source." The protoform said to Brawl and Shockwave as he gave Shockwave a datapad.

Taking the pad, the Decepticon Scientist/Assassin read its contents. Suddenly his lone red optic widened in surprise. "This is impossible." Shockwave muttered as he looked at the Protoform. "Recheck this again and then triple check." He ordered.

"W-we did sir. There's no mistaking it." The Protoform explained as Brawl looked at the pad. His optics widened as he saw the energy source. His face showed an expression of disbelief just like Shockwave did.

"How can this be?" Brawl asked in confusion.

"I do not know. But I intend to find a logical explanation for its sudden reemergence after all these years." Shockwave replied.

 **(Texas)**

" _This is he?"_

" _He is the one chosen, yes."_

" _But he is human!"_

" _Not entirely, you know that, brother."_

" _Besides, was not the other one human too?"_

" _I am not sure about this."_

" _You dare question the creator?"_

" _Silence. He is awakening."_

As the sunlight struck his face, a weary Adam grunted as he tried to shield himself from the unwelcomed light. However, he eventually cracked open his eyes as pushed himself against the soft. That is what caught his attention, and Adam realized that he was in a room. A bedroom by the looks of it. It had a single, one-person bedroom, a closet, window, and a door that led out. Near the bed was a small table and chair, with his backpack on top of the latter.

"The hell was that?" Adam muttered to himself as he tried to regain his senses. First was him suddenly losing consciousness and then those voices just now. None of it made any sense to the young male. _'At least it was better than the nightmare I usually have._ ' Adam thought to himself before getting his act together. Right now, he had to focus on reaching Evac and Rewind.

Stretching, Adam got up and made his way over to his pack, digging through it until he found what he was looking for. A custom-made radio, designed to allow Adam to communicate with Evac and Rewind in the event they got separated.

Flipping it on, Adam spoke. "Rewind, Evac, can you guys hear me, over?" He said in a hush voice in case someone was listening in.

" _Adam, thank Primus."_ Evac's voice came in through the radio. _"Rewind had to bail when those humans came, but he left a part of himself in your backpack."_

Adam turned his attention back to his backpack and began rummaging through it. Sure enough, Adam saw a small Cybertronian, about the size of a hand, peeking out. It gave a brief wave towards Adam, showing that it was okay. "Yeah, I found it. Where are you guys now?"

" _We're in the outskirts of a nearby town, not too far from the house you're currently in. We couldn't risk saving you because the humans might've contacted the authorities."_ Evac explained.

Suddenly, the door knob began to turn, startling Adam. He quickly put away the radio just as the door fully opened. Walking inside was a man, who appeared to be in his early thirties (A/N: I have no idea how old Cade is by the way) with short black hair. His skin had a tan, most likely from being out in the sun all day, and he had short black hair and a bit of fuzz around his on his chin. He wore a simple gray, short-sleeve shirt and light brown pants.

The man quickly noticed that Adam was awake. "Oh, you're up." The man said politely. "Was worried for a moment we'd had to take you to the hospital. You feel okay, now?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, thank you mister…"

"Yeager. Cade Yeager. You can call me Cade if you want." The now named Cade said. "Anyway, since you're up, you can come down and join us for breakfast if you like. I set up the shower and a toothbrush for you in the bathroom. It's right across from here."

"Thank you." Adam replied. Cade nodded before walking back downstairs. As he did that, Adam reorganized his stuff, and put his shoes on. He reached out towards the Rewind component, which quickly transformed into a cellphone. Adam then put the mini-Cybertronian into his pocket before heading out.

After brushing his teeth. He soon walked into a small kitchen where a dining table was situated. Three chairs were put up, as well as plates, forks, knives, spoons and glass cups too. Cade was finishing up what appeared to be pancakes while a second person was sitting at the table. This one was a female, younger than Cade, in her late teens perhaps. Adam had to conclude that she was Cade's daughter. She was very pretty, had a good figure with no baby fat, and a similar tanned skin just like Cade. However, she had long curly blonde hair instead of her father's black one. She wore a simple short-sleeve pink shirt and white jeans. She was currently looking at her cellphone.

Adam's attention was directed to Cade when the latter spoke up. "Well don't just stand there. Come on and sit down. I just got the food ready." Cade said as he turned off the stove. The teenager looked up at hearing her father's voice, and then noticed Adam. She quickly put away cellphone and gave Adam a kind smile. Adam returned it as he tentatively sat down.

"This is my daughter by the way. Her name's Tessa." Cade said as he got out a large bottle of apple juice.

Adam nodded towards Tessa. "Adam Nova." He said shyly to the teenager.

"Nice to meet you, Adam." Tessa said. "My Dad here found you at some abandoned town while looking for junk…again." She said, saying the last part exasperatedly.

"Hey! I'm telling you, Tessa, that truck I found will make us a lot of money. You'll see." Cade said, trying to defend himself. "What were you doing at the edge of town, anyway?" He asked Adam.

"I was traveling with some friends when we got separated. When I got here, I began looking for a place to spend the night." Adam explained.

"What about your parents? Won't they be worried about you?" Cade asked as he passed out the cook pancakes.

Adam was silent for a moment, a forlorn look on his face. Eventually he said, "Don't have any. Mom was killed in Chicago and I never knew my dad."

There was a silent pause as the father and daughter heard that, clearly not expecting to hear that this young man was a survivor of Chicago. Tessa sent her father a look, clearly saying to fix this. Seeing the look, Cade tried to remedy the issue. "Well, er, what about, other family members?"

Shrugging, Adam said, "Like I said, never knew my dad. As for my mom's family, apparently my grandpa was a drug dealer who was sent to jail, and my grandma passed away a year after I was born. My uncle hates me, saying it's my fault that his sister had such a hard time when she had me. So yeah, not many options for me."

"How you've been surviving this whole time?" Cade asked. Tessa kicked her father lightly under the table, silently scolding Cade for his abrupt question.

"I'm good with technology. A lot of people needed help in that field, so I make money off of my skills." Adam explained as he took a bit of pancake.

That made Cade intrigued. "Well, until your friends come to get you, you can stay with us." The man offered.

"Dad, you just want him to help you out with that old truck you brought in." Tessa commented with an eye role.

As father and daughter argued, Adam took a moment to consider the offer. Frankly, he was a bit surprised by it. From what he could tell so far, this guy wasn't having trouble supporting just himself and his daughter. However, until he could find a way to regroup with Evac and the others, Adam saw no other option. Plus, it gave him a chance to try and get close to the other Autobot, and then get them out of here in the off chance Cade decides calls Cemetery Wind.

"Sure" Was all he said.

 **Sorry if the chapter is kind of short. I wanted to do more, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting.**

 **Anyway, Soundwave is back obviously and Adam is now in the Yeager's house. Regarding Soundwave, I am having trouble on deciding what alt mode to give him. I am stuck between either a Bae System Mantis or a General Atomics Avenger. Give me your opinions and maybe they will help. I am also still deciding what alt modes the Vehicons' should be. Regarding one person's suggestion of giving some of the Autobots new alt modes, I'll put it under consideration.**

 **Review!**


	5. Meetings, Pursuit, Escape

**Here is chapter 5. Be sure to leave a review and enjoy the story.**

 **(Louisiana)**

Driving through a suburb town in the state of Louisiana, a grey Porsche 991 could be seen driving through the streets, followed by a large black Ford F-450 Super Duty pickup truck. While the duo may have looked completely normal to the eyes of the passing humans, they were in fact the Autobots Jazz and Ironhide respectively. Ever since their original alt modes had been canceled in manufacturing, they had to find different disguises to use in order to stay out of Cemetery Wind's sight.

The two were secretly scanning for any energon signatures in the state, hoping to find a clue of Optimus' current whereabouts. A few weeks ago, Wheeljack had picked up their leader's signature, with the Prime being hounded by Cemetery Wind. Immediately, the Autobots split into groups to search for him in the states closes to Mexico. So far, they've had little luck; there was just to many places Optimus could be, and with Cemetery Wind no doubt also looking for Optimus, the Autobots had to be extra careful not to be discovered themselves.

"I'm not getting anything on the long-range scanners. What about you Jazz?" Ironhide asked through their transmitter.

"Nothing, no sign that Prime came through this State." Jazz replied as the duo made a left turn, heading towards the town's borders.

For the last few weeks, the Autobots had been searching for their leader. They had gotten lucky when Wheeljack picked up Optimus' location and were preparing to head towards Mexico to regroup with the Prime. However, their plans changed when they spotted multiple Cemetery Wind soldiers near the area where Optimus was. They had waited for some time before they managed to catch a Cemetery Wind's transmission that Optimus had escaped, much to the Autobots' relief.

Afterwards, Jazz had the Autobots head out into groups of two or three, searching the nearby states for any signs of Optimus. The lieutenant figured they would have a better chance of finding Prime if they split up. Also, a large group of vehicles moving together would be too suspicious and would attract unwanted attention. So far, they've had no luck in finding Optimus, but at least Cemetery Wind didn't find him either, which was better than the alternative.

Back to the present, Ironhide and Jazz had just exited the local road. As they got onto the highway, their coms unit came back to life. "Hound to Ironhide and Jazz. Y'all read me?" The Autobot commando called.

"We read you, Hound. What's your status?" Jazz asked. Hound, along with Ratchet and Wheeljack were checking out New Mexico.

"A whole lot of nothing. We thought we had a lead when we intercepted a transmission from Cemetery Wind regarding a Cybertronian sighting. Turns out it was a false alarm. The other's say they haven't had much luck either. Still no word from Bumblebee's group, though." Hound reported.

Bumblebee. To be honest, Ironhide was more worried about the young scout than their leader. It had been six months since the Autobots saved him and his group from that Cemetery Wind attack force, and it was clear that Bee was not in his right mind. Every now and then, Bumblebee would have small scenes of rage, and the only ones that could calm him were the Weapon Specialist and Arcee, hence why the latter was with him, along with Drift.

Though the yellow mech would not explain what was troubling him, Ironhide knew why. Hound told the Weapon Specialist and the others of what happened during the fight at the old factory. It was only natural that the death of Sam would hit Bumblebee hard. The two had been closed, like brothers almost, and had been through a lot. And Bumblebee had failed to protect him. To lose Sam just like that…the others were concerned Bumblebee might do something reckless. It was the same for Ironhide and his former charges, the Lennox Family. He and Will were good comrades back when NEST was still active, Sarah had earned his respect, and Ironhide was close to his youngest charge, Annabelle Lennox, whom he treated like his own sparkling.

Ironhide had been with Sarah and Annabelle when Cemetery Wind launched their attack on Autobot City. However, Ironhide only learned of the attack two days later, when Will called Sarah from the Pentagon, warning them of what had happened. Afraid for what might happen to them, Lennox asked Ironhide to take Sarah and Annabelle to Epp's house, where they could stay with his family until things settled down. And though no one said it out loud, Ironhide and Lennox knew that the mech would have to leave his charge for an unknown amount of time. It was a heartbreaking scene, with Annabelle, crying and screaming, had to be held back by her mother as Ironhide drove off once he dropped them off with Monique Epps (A/N: For those that don't know, Monique is a real character in the Movie series, and is Epp's wife).

The Weapon Specialist's thoughts were broken when their coms unit came back to life. This time it was Drift's voice. "Autobots, we may have found a lead on sensei's position." The samurai said.

"I'll take any news I can get. What's the downplay, Drift?" Jazz asked.

"We've detected energon signatures matching sensei's in Texas. Arcee thinks he may have taken refugee somewhere there and is in a different alt mode. Unfortunately, we're having trouble pinpointing his exact location." Drift explained.

"It's not much, but we'll have to take what we can get." Ironhide noted.

"Agreed. Drift, I want you guys to hold your positions. I'll notify the others and we'll rendezvous with you in about an hour or two." Jazz ordered.

"Understood. We'll be waiting."

 **(With Adam)**

Adam didn't really believe in luck. To him, luck was something that people who were either very superstitious or very gullible believed in. The past five years of his life taught Adam that to survive in the world, you had to work hard, stay focus, and not show any signs of intimidation. However, today, something different.

In the last five hours he had been with the Yeagers, Adam learned more about them. Cade and his late wife had Tessa when they were still in high school, and were forced to forsake their education in order to raise their daughter. Currently, Cade himself was an inventor, bringing in junk in hopes of finding himself some breakthrough. As for Tessa; turns out she has a boyfriend, but begged Adam not to tell her father. Besides that, she was exasperated with Cade's constant work as an inventor and wished he find a real job.

Currently, Adam, with his backpack, was in Cade's barn, overlooking the rundown truck he had brought in. With them was the crass-humored Lucas Flannery, Cade's friend. Adam had immediately impressed the two older men with his skills in machines, having easily fixed an old radio, repaired what was supposedly a dead engine, and even got them free Wifi. All the while, the Rewind part was scanning the disguised Autobot, trying to find out their designation.

Eventually, the trio got to work on the truck, while Adam tried to find a way of communicating with the Autobot, or at least bringing them out of stasis. Unfortunately, Cade made the discover first when he tried to remove the truck's engine.

"I think we just found a Transformer." Cade said to Tessa and Lucas while Adam still examined the Autobot's interior. Ignoring the adults talking, the boy finally noticed an Autobot insignia on the front of the truck. It had some dust on it and was faded a bit. Without even thinking, with his left prosthetic hand, gently touched the symbol.

The moment his fingers brushed against it, sparks of energy ran across the symbol. Following that, the truck came to life, shifting its plating, wheels and any other parts it had. Adam instinctively took a step back as the other humans let out cries of surprise as the Cybertronian came to life.

"What the hell?!" Lucas cried as he, Cade and Tessa backed up as the truck changed form.

The Autobot was quite large, and if they were kneeling, then they would've broken through the barn's roof. His entire body was covered in rust, damaged parts, missing others, and you could even see a little bit of his spark chamber. In his hands was a rifle, which also seemed to match its owner's appearance.

With a roar, the Autobot waved his rifle in the air, sending objects flying across the barn. The humans ducked for cover, trying to avoid the Cybertronian's rampage.

"Autobots! Autobots! Report?!" The mech cried as he looked around, a wild look in his optics. "Elita! Where are you, Elita?"

' _Elita?'_ Adam thought. Evac had mentioned that name once, an Autobot femme and one of the lieutenants. She was also the sparkmate of the Autobot Commander. Which meant this mech was…

"Optimus?" Adam called, moving away from his cover, despite the protests of the others. "Optimus Prime?" He repeated, watching as some signs of sanity began to form in the mech's optics.

"Adam, what the hell are you doing?" Cade asked, trying to figure.

Adam ignored him, focusing on calming the raging Autobot leader. Optimus' optics settled on Adam, giving him a brief scan. He took noticed of the boy's prosthetic arm and the wristwatch he had on him. Said watch transformed, revealing a small Cybertronian that was now on Adam's shoulder. "Autobot…" Optimus muttered as he finally calmed down, sitting down. He put his Ion Blaster to the side. Seeing that he had calmed down, the other humans slowly got out of their hiding spots. Cautiously, Cade approached Adam, looking at the small Cybertronian on the kid's shoulder, before back at Adam.

"Mind explaining yourself, kid?" Cade asked.

Now that the whole fiasco had stopped, Adam looked between Cade, Tessa, Lucas and Optimus, the latter having fully calmed, now looking between the humans and the small Cybertronian. Adam sighed. "Right. Where do I begin?"

 **(Evac)**

The junior Cybertronian Knight drove through the small town, careful not to drive on the same road twice. He had already scanned a new alt mode, a modern Wrangler. Meanwhile, hidden in the backseat was Rewind, missing his left forearm and hand (A/N: If it helps, imagine Rewind like Chop Shop from Transformers: Robots in Disguise, whose limbs transforms into separate, smaller robots, except Rewind has eight parts). The two had been contacted by Adam again, who said that he was staying with the Yeagers in order to help repair the Autobot they found, and then wait for the perfect time to meet up with them.

As Evac made a turn around a corner, Rewind spoke. "I don't like it." Rewind commented. "Just waiting here is a good way to get killed."

"We have few options." Evac replied as he made a turn. "We can't just leave Adam behind, as well as a fellow Autobot, whose possible damage."

"I know that, Evac." The mini-con replied. "Just, the thought of leaving Adam alone with some strangers makes me unsettled. What if something happens and we're not there-" Rewind suddenly cut himself off, and a faraway look appeared in his optics.

"Rewind?" Evac asked, surprised at his friend's sudden silence.

"My piece just contacted me." Rewind explained. "Adam is in trouble."

Before Evac could ask, he saw several SUVs and two Rally Fighters driving by. The windows were dark and normally made it difficult to see what was inside. However, Evac could see that the people in the cars were heavily armed and ready for action. Evac did not need time to process who these men were, and where they were headed.

"Let's get moving."

 **(Back with Adam)**

An hour had passed since the whole incident, and now Adam, Optimus and Cade were inside the barn. After a heated argument between his daughter and Lucas, Cade eventually won on his decision that he was going to fix Optimus, with Adam's help. Tessa went back to her room while her father sent Lucas out to town to pick up some supplies. In the short time, the two humans managed to bond with the Autobot leader, earning his trust. During that time the trio were discussing about how Optimus came to his current predicament and how Adam was traveling with a pair of Autobots.

"So, you're saying, that little guy is actually a part of a child-sized Cybertronian." Cade summarized to Adam, pointing a wrench at the tiny robot, now back in its wristwatch form. "And the rest of him is now travelling with a larger Autobot in town. I get all that?"

"Pretty much." Adam simply replied.

"I remember Evac." Optimus commented. At first, Optimus had been hesitant trust the humans, but eventually Cade and Adam were able to convince the Autobot leader that they would not harm him. Now, he was at least comfortable speaking to them. "I never met him in person, but I remember he was the youngest Cybertronian to join the Knights of Cybertron. An ancient order of warriors dedicated to protecting Cybertron and upholding the beliefs of Primus." He explained. Optimus gave Adam a curious glance. "But why would you travel with Cybertronians? She was killed in Chicago, was she not? Many humans blame us for that terrible incident."

A sad look on Adam's face formed, remembering that moment. But, he eventually said, "I wasn't too keen on staying with a bunch of strangers or in foster care. Besides, the Decepticons were the ones who killed my Mom, not the Autobots. And she always said that life is like a tapestry, filled with different colors, not just black and white. It isn't always so simple to decipher." Adam said.

"I hear that." Cade commented in agreement.

Optimus nodded. "Indeed, your mother sounded like a wise woman. I am happy to know that not all humans see us as monsters."

The rest of time went by quickly, with Optimus and Cade bonding, conversing about the similarities of a Cybertronian's spark and a human's soul. However, that ended when the sound of several engines could be heard outside. The trio began to worry, which only increased when Tessa came into the barn, a concerned look on her face. "Dad, a bunch of cars just drove on up. Some guy says he got a call about a Transformer being spotted." Tessa said.

Cade cursed under his breath. "Lucas" He said before looking at Optimus and Adam. "Okay, Prime. You just hide, I'll send them away. Adam, you too. Something tells me that these guys aren't really good with kids."

Adam nodded as he quickly hit behind some shelves filled with objects, while Optimus transformed into his alt mode, hiding under the barn itself. Once they were out of sight, Cade went outside the barn and then closed the door behind him. A minute later Adam could hear voices outside, talking rather loudly. One was Cade, and yet the other was strangely familiar. Acting on instincts, Adam immediately contacted Rewind and Evac before the barn doors opened again.

Looking through the openings between junk, Adam could make out several armed men entering the barn, looking for any signs of Optimus. One of them was only a few feet away from Adam's hiding spot. He tried to move a bit, but accidentally jostled an empty paint bucket with his foot, making it rattle a little. Unfortunately, the soldier heard this and slowly made his way towards the shelf where Adam was hiding.

' _Shit'_ Adam cursed as the man got closer to his position. Slowly. Adam got out a taser he kept in his pocket, though he hoped that the man would walk away and not make Adam blow his hiding spot. Sadly, this did not seem to be the case as the soldier got closer and closer. Adam waited as the soldier's face peaked behind the shelf before lunging.

 **(Outside)**

Cade cursed himself as he looked at their current predicament. He had to say "he" instead of "it" when talking. Now they, himself, Tessa and Lucas were on the ground with guns trained on them. And then there was that guy, James Savoy, the clear leader of this kill squad. The moment Cade saw him, wearing his black shades, warning bells went off that this guy was dangerous and maybe not completely all there. Cade's worries were realized when Savoy ordered his men to put the trio to the ground, with him personally putting a gun to Tessa's head.

"GYAAAH!"

A scream from the barn got everyone's attention. At first Cade worried that it was Adam, but realized that the voice was older and that it must have been one of the soldiers. What came next were multiple voices letting out sounds of surprise, followed by anger and annoyance. It was also accompanied by movement.

Then the barn door opened a little, and several people came out. Two men were dragging a struggling Adam towards Savoy. One of them appeared to be holding something in their other hand. Behind them was a third man, who was helping a fourth one that clearly showed signs of pain and had both hands near the area where his thighs met. He also had an occasional twitch now and then too.

"We found this brat hiding behind some shelves." One of the men said as they dumped the kid on the ground, directly at Savoy's feet. "He even tasered one of our men, too. Got him right in the balls." He added, gesturing to the twitching soldier.

Ouch. Cade had to sympathize with the poor bastard. That had to hurt. Yet, Yeager couldn't help but feel pleased at Adam's action. But that quickly change to dread at what Savoy might do to the kid. A part of Cade didn't think Savoy would actually kill a kid at Adam's age, but another part of him had a feeling that the Cemetery Wind operative would do whatever it took to find his prey.

However, Savoy merely looked at Adam for a moment, taking off his shades as he did so. First, there was a look of surprise in his eyes, then, it changed to smugness, followed by a not-so friendly smile on the older man's face. "Well, well. It's been a long time, Adam. You seem to be doing well." Savoy said mockingly.

In return, Adam just glared at Savoy, once realizing who it was. "Surprised to see you too, Savoy. Thought you'd be dead by now, with a bullet in your head or something." Adam snapped back.

Savoy laughed at that, as if finding the insult funny. "Come on, Adam. Can't you say something a bit nicer to your dear, old uncle?"

Uncle? Uncle!? Cade's eyes nearly popped out at what he heard. This bastard was Adam's uncle? And by the looks of it, these two were clearly not on best terms. However, that's when Cade recalled something that Adam said a while ago. _'My uncle hates me, saying it's my fault that his sister had such a hard time when she had me.'_ Looking at them now, Cade could only see how right Adam was.

Meanwhile Adam just kept on glaring at his uncle as Savoy kept talking. "Got to admit, I'm kind of surprised to see you here, Adam. Thought you had died back in Chicago."

"Yeah, I bet that would make you really happy, Savoy." Replied Adam. "Probably be happier if Mom had lived instead of me."

That made Savoy frowned a little, not liking his sister being brought up. "At least then Lucy wouldn't have someone pulling her down."

"As if you know what Mom wanted and didn't want. She'd hated you and the rest of the family because of how messed up all of you were-" Adam's sentence was rudely interrupted when Savoy delivered a brutal punch to the face from Savoy. The blow sent the kid to the ground hard.

"Adam!" Cade cried at the sight. He struggled against his captors but they held him down firmly. Tessa let out a gasp of horror while Lucas seemed even more afraid.

A snarl escaped Savoy's lips, all pleasantries gone now. "Shut your mouth, you brat." Savoy said as his men got Adam back to his knees. "Seeing how the grown-ups aren't being so cooperative, why don't you tell me where Optimus is? You know who that is, right?"

Adam was a bit dazed by the blow, but managed to respond. "Yeah, I know who that is, Savoy. But what makes you think I know where he is?"

BANG!

What happened next was the most unexpected and terrifying thing that had happened that day. Without even looking, Savoy raised his gun and fired a single bullet right through Lucas' head. Cade's friend fell straight flat onto the dirt ground, dead. His blood slowly started to paint the grass.

The reactions that happened were natural: Tessa screamed her lungs out in horror at the sight of the now dead Lucas. Cade could only look in stunned silence, eyes wide, as if trying to comprehend that his friend was now dead. Meanwhile, Adam also showed some shock, clearly not expecting Savoy to do something like that. The soldiers, however, showed no outward reaction, instead pointing the tips of their weapons' barrels at the heads of their captives.

"Maybe that will serve as a motivator." Savoy said, now pointing his gun directly between Adam's eyes. There were no emotions in his voice, no regret whatsoever. Just pure apathy, Savoy was clearly fine with killing them all. "Now, I'm going to ask again, _nephew_ : Where is Optimus Prime?"

As if deciding enough was enough, said mech sprang into action. Transforming from his spot, Optimus sent the soldiers above him flying. He smacked two more to the side, hard, and then smashed through the barn. Ion Blaster at the ready, the Autobot leader opened fire on the Cemetery Wind soldiers, all thoughts of hiding gone.

"HERE. I. AM!" Optimus roared with each round he fired. Cemetery Wind agents were sent flying, some killed by either the projectiles, or the impact when they hit the ground. Others were seriously wounded and groaning in pain.

With their captors' attention focused on Optimus, Cade and Tessa were able to free themselves and began running. Cade managed to grab a drone that Cemetery Wind had with them, putting it into his pocket. Adam did the same thing with his captors; first grabbing his taser and stunning the two men who were holding him. Than he delivered a strong headbutt to Savoy's face, the sound of his nose breaking was music to Adam's ears. He quickly joined Cade and Tessa as the trio took cover from the firefight happening right now.

"Cade! They're going to kill you! Get out of here!" Optimus yelled as he fired at more Cemetery Wind soldiers.

From a nearby silo grain, Lockdown observed the fight happening. "Hangnail. Prime's surfaced. I'll deal with him. Pursue the secondary target." Lockdown said through the coms.

"Understood." Hangnail said from down below, already in his alt mode, a grey Ford Explorer. As he took off, Lockdown fired a salvo of missiles from his shoulder launchers, startling the kids down at the nearby baseball field.

Meanwhile, Cade, Tessa and Adam ran for it as Lockdown's missiles rained down on them. They easily destroyed the Yeager's house, and killed several CW soldiers. Lockdown clearly didn't care who he hit. A few soldiers were trying to go around and close off. Suddenly, a Chevrolet Sonic RS appeared out of nowhere, causing the soldiers to dive to cover, though one wasn't so fortunate as his face got a full taste of rubber when a wheel struck him. The car did a hard turn right in front of the fleeing trio. Opening the passenger door was a young, blonde hair man. "Get in!"

What happened next was a combination of awesome driving and awkward introductions. The driver, Shane Dyson, was Tessa's boyfriend Adam had learned about. He tried to introduce himself to Cade, said person being annoyed at the fact that Shane was in a relationship with his daughter that he did not know of. And also, because he wanted to the younger man to focus on the road as they were being chased by several black SUVs and two Rally Fighters. The chase took them through a cornfield, then the backyards of several houses, where they managed to lose an SUV when it crashed into a tree, and currently driving through town.

That's when Adam noticed a newcomer. "Um, there's a ford explorer chasing us now." He said, getting Cade's attention.

Following behind the two Rally Fighters and remaining SUVs was Hangnail. The mercenary was slowly catching up to the Cemetery Wind soldiers, but Savoy, who was in one of the SUVs, gave his men the 'ok' signal to let him through. The group of cars were slowly gaining on the Sonic as said car passed an intersection. As Shane's car drove by, a blue jeep wrangler drove on the intersecting road, passing the red light. "Evac!" Adam yelled, seeing his friend.

At that moment one would have to see the scene in slow motion. As he reached the center of the intersection, Evac transformed into his true form, performing a sideways roll. Activating his wrist-mounted, double-barrel blasters, the blue Autobot opened fire on the Cemetery Wind vehicles. The SUVs, who were at the front of the group, took the brunt of the attack. All of them were sent flying in flames, while the one Savoy was in managed to do a hard turn, avoiding taking the hit, but crashed into a nearby wall. Meanwhile Rewind, who had jumped out of Evac upon transformation, changed into his form and took the air. He had a blue duffle bag hanging on him. The mini-con immediately flew to catch up with Adam.

"Holy shit!" Shane yelled as he watched the whole thing from his rearview mirror.

Cade was also amazed by Evac's entrance, and soon realized that these were Adam's friends.

Hangnail, upon seeing Evac, transformed and the two Cybertronians engaged one another in battle. But, it was the two Rally Fighters that really did the unexpected. As they neared Evac, the two vehicles suddenly began to break apart into tiny pieces, like nano-bots, and _flew_ pass the Autobot, much to Evac's surprise. Then, they reconfigured themselves into two Transformers, with green visors over their optics. The two Transformers continued their pursuit of the fleeing humans, knocking aside cars, trucks and whatever else got in their way. They each had claws attached to the back of their arms. Evac had little time to comment as he got into a brawl with Hangnail.

"The hell?! I didn't know Transformers could do that!" Cade yelled as he watched the whole thing take place.

"They can't!" Adam replied.

All the while, Rewind had transformed and landed on top of Shane's car, reattaching the piece of him that he had left with Adam. Pulling out a laser cannon from his subspace, the Mini-con shot at the drones. He fired blasts after blasts at the two pursuing Transformers. While small, Rewind's weapon was powerful enough to cause the two drones to dodge his shots. One of them morphed his right arm into a plasma cannon and began firing at the Sonic.

Back with Evac, the Autobot was brutally fighting Hangnail, the two Cybertronians smashing the other into the nearby buildings. The few surviving Cemetery Wind soldiers had finally recovered and upon Savoy's orders, began firing at Evac from a distance. Civilians had already fled the area, not wanting to be caught up in the brawl. Evac dodged a punch from Hangnail by ducking, and then wrapped his arms around the mercenary's waist, followed by pushing him down on the ground. The Autobot followed it up by delivering several punches to Hangnail's face before being interrupted from bullets fired by the Cemetery Wind soldiers. One of the soldiers fired a grenade launcher, that struck Evac in the face, forcing him off of Hangnail.

The mercenary Cybertronian immediately brought out his photon rifle and fired several rounds of concentrated heat projectiles at Evac. The blasts scorched the Autobot's armor, making him grunt in pain. However, Evac ignored the pain as he knew that he would be overwhelmed if he didn't. Also, seeing how Adam was still in need of help, Evac figured right now would be a good time to withdraw. So, he grabbed Hangnail, and before the mercenary could react, Evac tossed him straight towards the hostile humans. Savoy and his men were forced to cease firing in order to get out of the oncoming Cybertronian. Hangnail impacted with several nearby parked cars and a wall, causing debris to fall on top of him. With them currently disoriented, Evac quickly transformed and took off, hoping to catch up with Adam and Rewind.

Two minutes later, Hangnail managed to get his processor unscrambled and dig himself out of the rubble. Rubbing his head, he contacted Lockdown. "Hangnail to Lockdown, secondary target has temporarily eluded me."

"Explain?" Lockdown demanded through the coms.

"Two more Autobots appeared during pursuit. I tangled with one before he tossed me aside and half-buried me. Two of those human drones are currently pursuing them." Hangnail explained as he got up.

"Unscramble yourself and continue the chase. I'm currently after Prime. By my calculations we'll meet up somewhere along the way." Lockdown ordered.

"Understood" Hangnail replied as he prepared to transform. However, he was stopped when Savoy approached him. The human did not have a pleased look on his face.

"You mind telling me what that was all about? I was under the impression you and your boss were after Prime." Savoy said, clearly having not expected Hangnail to suddenly appear, chasing after the four humans.

Growling, Hangnail replied. "That is none of your concern, human. Now, I suggest you reorganize your men if you wish to capture them." The Cybertronian mercenary replied before transforming. The disguised Ford Explorer than took off, leaving behind a disgruntled human.

 **(Cade and Company)**

The drones were persistent, they had to be given that much credit. They had transformed back into Rally Fighters as the car chase shifted shortly onto the highway, before Shane drove towards an abandoned factory, near the parking garage. Rewind, having finally entered the Sonic, was firing from the back seat, standing in the middle of Tessa and Adam. Said boy was digging through the duffle for something.

In a nearby part of the factory, Optimus Prime appeared at the same time, with Lockdown right on his tail. The two Cybertronians eventually transformed and engaged each other on the roofs. While down below, the two drones had transformed again, and were trying cut the humans off.

"Shit, we got one behind us and one in front of us." Cade cursed as he looked at their predicament.

At that moment, Adam finally found what he was looking for. Pulling out of the duffle bag, Adam was now holding a round, silver object, the size of a baseball. "Hey, Mr. Dyson. Can you drive close enough to the one right in front of us? Close enough for me to hit it with this?" Adam asked Shane.

"You want him to drive right towards that thing? Are you nuts?" Cade asked incredulously.

"If you got a better idea, Cade, than I'm open to suggestions right now." Adam retorted as he began twisting sections of the sphere to the right and left.

"Kids got a point, Mr. Yeager." Shane added. He shifted the gear of the car. "Okay, hang on!" He yelled as he pressed on the forward pedal hard.

The Sonic roared as it charged straight towards the drone, with the second one following behind. The drone at the front extended its claws and prepared to impale the Sonic. But just as the car came into range, Adam stuck out his arm and threw the sphere right at the drone's chest. Seconds later the sphere lit up and released a pulse of electricity that caused the drone to go rigid. That gave Shane enough time to drive right underneath it, though there was not enough time for him to stop as he crashed into the parking garage wall. The second drone, unaware of what just happened, crashed into its partner and sent both of them to the ground. Rewind took the chance and fired a energy bolt right into the first drone's head, blowing it into pieces.

"Yeah! Nice shot, Rewind!" Adam cheered at his friend's work.

Rewind shouldered his weapon, a proud look on his face. "Feels nice to finally hit something." He commented.

"Oh man, that was awesome! What the hell was that thing anyway?" Cade asked, amazed at what that gadget just did. Meanwhile Shane was trying to start up his car with Tessa's help, though to no avail.

"A Disruptor Bomb that I made. Releases an EMP that temporarily stuns any nearby electronic devices, and in this case, short-circuits Cybertronian's motor functions." Adam replied, pleased that his invention worked.

Their victory was short lived as the second drone began to get up, its claws at the ready. Fortunately, it was at that moment Evac showed, heading straight towards the drone before transforming while jumping. Using the momentum, the blue Autobot delivered a devastating punch to the drone's midsection, tearing it in half.

"All right, Evac!" Adam cried as he got out of the Sonic, backpack in hand. He was followed by Rewind, who held the duffel bag, and then Cade, Tessa and Shane soon after. Adam stopped for a moment to pick up some of the parts from the dead drones, putting them in his bag. At that moment, Optimus appeared, having managed to Lockdown, by momentarily disabling the mercenary by tossing him into a crane cable. The Autobot leader gave a quick nod to Evac before checking on his human allies.

"Let's get out of here before more of them come." Evac suggested as he transformed.

"Agreed, let's roll." Optimus ordered as he transformed too.

Needing no further encouragement, Cade, Tessa and Shane got inside the truck, while Adam and Rewind entered the transformed Evac. With their precious cargo inside, the two Autobots took off, away from the Cybertronian mercenary and Cemetery Wind. For the moment, they had escaped, but now, all of them were wanted.

 **And there you go! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be the Autobot reunion you had all been waiting for. Anyway, be sure to review.**

 **Wacko12**


	6. Reunions and Declarations

**Well I am glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter. In this chapter the Autobots reunite, which I am sure is something you have all been waiting for. So, without further ado, please review and enjoy.**

 **(Washington D.C)**

Harold Attinger, leader of the CIA black ops unit, Cemetery Wind, was not happy. In fact, he was very, very upset. Savoy knew this, as calmly he watched his superior pace back and forth in his office.

"He was right there. Right there!" Attinger exclaimed in anger, sending a stack of papers flying into the air. "And you missed him! How the hell could you let Prime escape?!"

Savoy was not the least bit fazed by Attinger's angry red-face staring directly at him, having been used to his moments of rage for a while now. It was one of the reasons why he was Harold's field man . Savoy was the only person who could withstand Attinger's wrath and not be afraid to speak back. "We weren't prepared when two more Autobots appeared to help the runaways. They even managed to take down those two drones KSI gave us."

Attinger swore again, sitting back down on his chair. He had calmed down at bit, and now he seemed more anxious than angry. "We need to find Prime so we can get the Seed, and fast. The pressure on us is building." Attinger muttered.

"Don't tell me that idiot is actually giving you grief?" Savoy asked, referring to the Chief of Staff, Cemetery Wind's liaison.

"No. But the Secretary of Defense is." Attinger said with a sigh.

Now _that_ made Savoy frown, a hint of worry growing inside of him.

Officially, Cemetery Wind had been formed as the successor of NEST to hunt down remaining Decepticons. The part of them hunting down them and the Autobots was kept as a secret from the White House and Pentagon. Along with their deal with both Lockdown and KSI too; hell, KSI President, Joshua Joyce, was unaware of that fact as well. However, while Congress might be pissed that they were secretly funding the creation of an army of drones without permission, not many politicians or military leaders would mind if all Cybertronians were killed.

Except for John Keller, the Secretary of Defense. Since the first battle against the Decepticons, Keller had been a firm ally of the Autobots ever since. He supported many of the Autobot's decisions (so long as they were reasonable) such as to leave the Matrix of Leadership in Optimus' hands. And he had been one of the most vocal against disbanding NEST, as the group's experience with fighting Decepticons, as well as their close bond with the Autobots, was invaluable in handling further incursions. Keller was also equally vocal in the creation of Cemetery Wind, clearly showing his distrust in the CIA black ops. And just like the rest of the American government, Keller knew nothing of Attinger's dealings with Lockdown and KSI. There have been times in the past when Keller would push for report on Cemetery Wind's current activities, as well as request a meeting with the Autobots, but Attinger had always been able to rebuff him. From the looks of things however, Savoy could only assume this time it was serious.

"He's been hammering down on us more now than ever." Attinger explained, answering Savoy's unspoken question. "Wanting to know about our recent activities, even continuing to ask about the whole incident in Cuba. Along with that, his questions about what we're doing with the bodies, meeting with the Autobots, and our current actions in the country are becoming harder to ignore. At this rate, he'll bring his complaints directly to Congress and the President."

Attinger than got up, and walked over towards Savoy until the two were directly facing each other, their noses almost touching. Neither of them showed emotions as Harold continued. "Now do you see why we need the Seed soon. If we can't capture Optimus and hand him over to Lockdown, the mercenary will not give it to us. Without the Seed, we won't be able to supply KSI with an abundance of Cybertronian metal. And when we're unable to continue funding them, Joyce will figure out what's been going on, and most likely rat us out to the White House to save his own skin. And then the two of us will be sent to the firing squad. Understand?"

"Understood, I'll tell my team to redouble their efforts." Savoy replied calmly.

"Before you go, I want to ask about this nephew of yours?" Attinger asked as he moved back. "Will he be a problem?"

Without even a moment of hesitation, Savoy replied coldly, "Of course not."

Attinger nodded, pleased with that response. It was one of the reasons why he trusted Savoy, the man knew how to get things done, and did not let anything stop him from completing his goal. "Good, keep me updated. In the meantime, I need to meet with Joyce about supplying us with more drones. If the Autobots do regroup, just our men are not going to cut it."

And with that, their meeting ended.

 **(Ural Mountains, Decepticon Base)**

"It appears things went poorly on this second encounter as well." Shockwave summarized calmly. He was currently talking to Lockdown through a video screen in his private quarters.

"Don't act so calm, Shockwave! I have no time for it!" Lockdown yelled to the Decepticon, clearly unhappy about the recent events. "My employers are becoming agitated that I have yet to deliver Prime to them. And those human bugs are not helping!"

"What about your own subordinates? Surely they could assist in apprehending Optimus Prime." Shockwave suggested.

"The Knight's Ship requires a large crew to run it, as well as guard my trophies. That, and those who pilot the fighters. So, no, I cannot spare them." Lockdown replied. "That is why I am contacting you. Is it possible for you to give me some Decepticons to assist?"

"This goes above the parameters of our deal, Lockdown." Shockwave said, a tone of annoyance in his vocal processors. "However, since the wrath of your employers is not something I desire, I can prepare a small task force to aid you. In return, I would like to bring up something I discovered just recently."

Lockdown frowned, but complied with the request. "And what would that be?"

"We picked up an unusual energon signature originating from the human country, the United States. And by unusual, I mean by that it should no longer exist. For the object that contained that signature was destroyed seven Earth years ago." Shockwave explained. "Given the nature of your business on this planet, I can only assume that you already knew this, and thus wish to clarify."

There was a brief moment of silence, a thin thread of tension between the two mechs as they stared at one another through the screen. Finally, Lockdown gave a sinister chuckle. "I forget that you were the brains behind Megatron's schemes." Lockdown said amusingly. "Yes, I know about what you speak of. However, my employers only recently told me about it, and were quite adamant that I retrieve it. I hope that this does not cause any problems between us." Lockdown said, though there was a threat underneath that last part.

Not the least bit bothered, Shockwave replied, "Your employers' plans aligned with my own. As long as that remains, then there are no issues." The scientist/assassin finished.

 **(Somewhere in Texas)**

It had been a few hours until the group of four humans and three Autobots were far enough that they could stop and collect themselves. With nighttime having arrived, they took shelter at an abandoned gas station. The humans and Rewind made themselves comfortable as they could, while Evac guarded outside, and Optimus was doing a patrol of the surrounding area.

Adam remained in the back of the station, sitting inside an office. At the front, Cade was having an argument with Shane and Tessa about their relationship. Since he wasn't really interested in hearing that stuff (plus, it was family matters that did not concern him) Adam decided to take this moment to examine the parts from the drone he recovered. Rewind was also there with him.

Despite his age, Adam was a quick learner when it came to machines and computers. As such, having lived with Rewind since he was five, followed by traveling with him and Evac for three years, Adam had a pretty good understanding of Cybertronian biology. Perhaps not on the level of one of their medics and scientists, but greater than any other human. Thus, it did not take Adam long to figure out the clues of these parts. Already, he had the parts spread out on a table, sitting on a chair, and several pages from a notebook he kept with words written on them.

"It's like each piece is made from multiple smaller pieces, like nanites almost. They work in sync with one another so the drone can change shape perfectly. That's why those two looked like clouds of metallic particles when they transformed. Hell, it be useful when avoiding taking damage." Adam explained to Rewind as he examined what looked like the remains of a mouth. "However, there are several flaws in it. They appear to have a pre-set form. Meaning that once they have an assigned robot or vehicle form, the drone is stuck like that. Their t-cog has no scanners attached to it, meaning they can't scan new alternate modes. Plus, if an actual Cybertronian were to transform like that, they would leave their spark chamber, and several other vital components, dangerously exposed. And the particle metals are just as bad regarding their durability. While I'm not saying that they're weaker than the metal used to build cars, tanks and jets, this metal is not as strong as that of an actual Cybertronian."

"In other words: not impressive." Rewind said as he juggled some parts.

"It is, and it isn't." Adam said as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "While impressive that a human could build something like this, they're still following the stereotypical belief that Cybertronians are just machines, having no regard or understanding of their actual biology. The only question is: where did they get _this_ kind of metal?" He wondered as he noticed the odd texture of said material in his hands.

His musings were cut short when the door opened, Cade walking in. The older male had a look on his face that was crossed between annoyed, frustration and exhaustion. "So, this is where you were, Adam." Cade said as he walked up to the twelve-year old.

Said kid nodded, offering up a chair to the single-parent. "Yeah, thought I give you three some space while you discussed Tessa's whole relationship thing with that Shane guy." Adam said.

Cade snorted in amusement. "Thanks. Even with guns blazing, robots and trained killers trying to kill me, it seems like I'm more focus on my fatherly duties than my survival." Cade said.

The room entered a moment of silence, the only noise coming from Rewind as he shifted through the office, looking for anything useful. Adam eventually broke it. "I'm really sorry about your friend." Adam said sincerely, referring to Lucas.

A sad look formed on Cade's face at the mention of the deceased person. "It's okay, wasn't your fault anyway. The blame goes to that uncle of yours. He's the one who has to answer for it, no offense." Cade replied.

Adam chuckled, but it was a hollow chuckled. "Got to admit, never expected that jerk to be working as a killer for the CIA. Though, it does fit him."

"You two really seemed to hate each other." Cade said while studying the CW drone he snatched.

"It was mostly one-sided in the beginning. Like I said before, my mother's family was not a good one. The only person she cared about was her older brother, Savoy and vice versa. I don't know the full details of their history, but apparently, he got into a lot of trouble as a teenager, with drugs and jail. Then, he was in the military for a while before joining the private sector as a mercenary. That seemed to create a rift between them. And when I was born, Savoy tried to get my Mom to put me into foster care, saying I would drag her down, accusing me of being a mistake. Eventually, Mom cut all ties with him after that." Adam explained solemnly as he fiddled with his prosthetic arm. "We assumed that he died on one of his contracts, guess we were wrong."

Cade frowned, seeing how depressed Adam was as his only living relative had tried to kill him. A part of him wondered if Savoy was responsible for Adam's artificial limb, the thought made the father angry that someone would do that to a kid. Instead, Cade placed a comforting hand on Adam's shoulder getting the kid's attention. "Well, for now, looks like you're stuck with us. I promise I'll make sure nothing happens, to any of you." Cade promised, his parental instincts in.

"Yeah, and if that bastard tries to do anything, I'll blow him to pieces." Rewind added, having been silently listening the whole time.

There words seemed to have the desired effect, as Adam offered them a small smile. "Thanks" He said.

Cade nodded before letting out a yawn. "Now, I think the best thing to do now is for us to hit the hay. Evac said Optimus would be back later on, so we'll be hitting the road in the morning." Cade said as the two humans got up to join Shane and Tessa, with Rewind going to join Evac on guard duty.

Indeed, the next morning, the humans woke up early. After getting themselves ready (or as ready as they could, seeing how they had no toothbrushes or other toiletries), they met the Autobots outside. Optimus had just arrived, now sporting a new vehicle mode, and regaining his trademark colors. After Adam explained his findings from last night, the Prime had informed them that he sent a world-wide message to all surviving Autobots that it was time to regroup. They would no longer remain scattered in hiding, now was the time to confront their foes before it was too late. With that said, Cade, Tessa and Shane boarded Optimus, while Adam and Rewind got inside Evac.

The two Autobots began driving down the long, empty road of the Texas highway. After a few hours, Cade spotted a blue 2014 Chevy Volt approaching them from behind. Neither Optimus nor Evac seemed concerned, and the reason why was shown shortly as the wheels of the Volt had the Autobot insignia on them. "Jolt" Optimus said, greeting the technician.

"Optimus! The others are waiting up ahead off the road. Follow me!" Jolt said through the coms as he led them to the meeting place.

At the same time, three more vehicles were approaching from the opposite direction. At the front was a yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black stripes, followed by a silver 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible, and finally a red Ferrari 458 Speciale. The newcomers joined the three Autobots as they headed deep into the desert land of Texas, concealed thanks to the large mountains.

On one said mountain was Arcee, who was looking through her gun's lenses. When she finally spotted Jolt leading Optimus and Evac, followed by Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Mirage, she yelled to the others. "It's him!"

Her yelled got an excited response from Hound, who was standing on another nearby mountain. "Oh hell yeah! He's alive! Optimus is back, baby! Oorah!" The commando shouted with enthusiasm, shooting one of his assault rifles in the air.

Besides Arcee was Drift, kneeling next to the femme. Though his reaction was calmer than Hound's, his tone still carried them same amount of delight in it. "At last, hope has returned." The samurai bot said before transforming into his helicopter form. Arcee grabbed onto him as Drift flew down to the ground.

Driving from behind a mountain were Ironhide, Jazz, Crosshairs, Wheeljack, and Ratchet. Like the Weapon Specialist and Lieutenant, Wheeljack and Ratchet also had gotten new alt modes. Wheeljack's was a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, but with the same blue coloring as before. Ratchet now sported a yellow and green color and had chosen a Los Angeles Fire Department search and rescue 2010 Hummer H3. They still had their old physical appearance, as did Jazz and Ironhide, the latter retaining his arm Neutron Shell Cannons, and had his Heavy Irons on his back, now modified as battle rifles which could switch between penetration and explosive rounds.

Behind them were two more mechs with them. One was a red Dodge Challenger with black stripes, and the other a white Nissan 370Z police cruiser with black stripes on the side and front. When they transformed, the first one looked almost identical to Bumblebee, except his color was a dark red, plus he had small horns sticking out from the side of his helm. And instead of door wings protruding from his back, a pair of wheels were sticking out from behind his shoulders. The second bot was around the same height as Jazz, but the door wings on his back made him look taller. He was a bit bulkier around the arms, waist and legs sections of his body, giving him a lean yet muscular build.

All the Autobots gathered around Optimus, who transformed after letting his passengers out. He was quickly joined by Evac and the others, as the mechs and femme greeted their leader.

"I'm so relieved to see you, Optimus!" Wheeljack exclaimed as he shook his leader's hand.

"Glad to have you back with us, Prime." Ironhide said to his old friend.

"It's been too long, boss." Said Sideswipe.

"Knew you weren't out of the game yet, Mr. Leader. Never doubted ya for a second." Crosshairs said.

"We've been waiting for your return, sensei." Drift said as he bowed his head respectfully.

"Boo ya! Gang's all back together now." Hound said through his cigar. The commando took noticed of Evac and gave the young knight a friendly slap on the back. "It's good to see you too, Evac! Thought ya might've been offline." Hound joked.

Evac chuckled in return. "Not likely, old timer."

Optimus took in his comrade's appearances, before spotting the two extra mechs. "Prowl, Cliffjumper" He said as two mentioned Autobots approached him.

Prowl, the white mech, saluted Optimus. "It's good to see you again, sir." The mech said.

"Likewise, old friend. Though I admit, I am surprised as you were not at Autobot City." Optimus commented.

"I arrived on Earth over a year ago. Was nearly taken out by humans until Cliffjumper saved me." Prowl replied as he pointed at the red horned mech.

"Yeah, found him pinned down somewhere in the south-west part of this county. Fortunately, we managed to link up with Bumblebee's group. An't that right cuz?" Cliff asked as he bumped fists with his yellow-look alike. Bumblebee let out some chirps in agreement.

Unfortunately, the happy reunion ended when Crosshairs spotted the smaller beings. "Humans! Waste them!" He yelled as he pulled out one of his machine pistols.

His cry got responses from some of the others: Hound readied his triple-barrel mini-gun, Ironhide activated his arm shell cannons, Sideswipes raised his dual pulse pistols, Jazz brought out his crescent shield blaster, Prowl armed his neutron SMG, Mirage flipped out his wrist blades, and Cliffjumper aimed his right-arm plasma cannon. Needless to say, the humans were a bit intimidated by the numerous large weapons pointed at them. Only Rewind and Evac stood in their defense with weapons raised, while the remaining Autobots just watched.

Fortunately, Optimus stopped any possible fight. "Lay down your weapons, all of you!" He ordered. "These humans saved my life, risking their own as a result. I owe them a debt."

"But Prime-" Ironhide argued, still not lowering his cannons.

"Down, Ironhide." Optimus said sternly. "We have no time for fights right now. There are more important things to do than that." His words appeared to have finally sunk in as the Autobots lowered their weapons. Hours later, as the sun had gone downed and nighttime came, the band of fugitives took shelter in a nearby cave. A fire was lit to give the humans some warmth and light. As they crowded around it, the Autobots conversed among themselves.

"Has there been any word from the others?" Optimus asked.

"There've been a few weak transmissions, but nothing definite." Ratchet answered. "It's possible that they are taking shelter and cutting off radio communication."

"Or someone, the humans or others, are blocking our communications." Prowl said.

"What about those who went through the Ground Bridge? Can we track their current location?" Optimus asked Wheeljack.

"When I activated the Ground Bridge, I set the coordinates to various places across the world. Areas with small chances of human contact. But, it was so sudden, I had no time to upload the coordinates before evacuating." Wheeljack explained. "Besides, even if we could, we have no way of getting to them, not without transport."

"So far it's been only us." Crosshairs commented with his arms crossed.

"On the run, with our afts in the air." Hound added.

Optimus looked on grimly. "And the Ark?" He asked. Said ship had been on his processors for a while, as it did have the hatchlings on board, and his sparkmate too.

Sadly, the news he got did little to lift the Prime's spark. "No response. The last one was from two Earth years ago. Leadfoot reported that they had made it to Mars, and were resupplying. After that, nothing." Jazz said.

There was a grim moment of silence after that, not a single Cybertronian or human speaking. It all seemed pretty hopeless right now. Fortunately, Prowl decided to break the silence. "While I too am concerned about the fates of our comrades. I believe it would be better if we focused our attention on other matters, such as the ones who are hunting us, and what their goal is." The lieutenant said.

The suggestion appeared to have work, as everyone had now shifted their attention to the new subject. "Prowl is right, we must put our attention to what we can do at the present." Optimus declared before continuing. "Lockdown, the Cybertronian mercenary, is working with the humans of Cemetery Wind in hunting us down."

"We figured that much when Arcee reported spotting Lockdown working with those slaggers a few months ago." Ironhide said.

"The question remains however, is why?" Optimus said.

That is when Cade spoke. "Well, I can't give you an answer for that part. But Adam and I did some digging and we managed to rig this drone I stole. I think you guys should probably see what it has.

A few minutes later, with the help of Evac and Rewind, Adam and Cade were able to project the drone's feed through Adam's laptop. A large holographic screen appeared on the mountain wall, and showed Cemetery Wind attacking multiple Cybertronians, both Autobots and Decepticons. The largest one was when they were in Hawaii, assaulting Decepticons under Starscream's command.

"I was wondering where that bugger flew off too." Crosshairs commented as he watched Grindor get shot to pieces by rockets.

The last image was in Cuba. There, an Autobot that had transformed from a BRDM-2 APC of the Cuba Special Forces "Black Wasps" was under attack while trying to protect people. He had already lost a leg and was bleeding Energon profusely, still protecting the humans. The whole time he was crying out, "Stop! I am an Autobot, Argh! Autobot Flak! Cease fire! There are civilians here! Stop!" before the smoke from the rockets covered the screen.

"Ah, poor Flak…" Hound bemoaned as he took his hat off in respect. The other Autobots also lowered their heads in mourning for Flak, and their other fallen comrades. Optimus moved his head, unable to watch anymore.

"After they kill them, these guys from Kinetic Solutions Incorporated come in. They tear them apart and take away the remains." Cade explained as he turned off the drone.

"Bunch of savages." Hound snarled.

"Agreed, Hound. To defiled one's remains like that is…barbaric." Ratchet added.

"And whatever they're doing, probably has something to do with this." Adam said as he opened his backpack, pulling out one of the parts. "I took this off a weird looking drone that Rewind managed to kill. It's completely different from what I've seen of Cybertronians so far."

"Can I see that?" Wheeljack asked, a hand stretched out. Adam complied and gave him the part, allowing the inventor to scan it.

After a few seconds, Wheeljack gasped. "By Primus, this is cyber-matter!" He exclaimed.

"Cyber what?" Shane asked.

"Cyber-matter, or living metal as you could call it. It is basically what a Cybertronian is made out of, the metal that forms our bodies. However, this appears to have been altered somehow, devoid of all inner parts, such as our T-cog and Spark Chambers. Basically, a simple and bare version of cyber-matter." Wheeljack explained.

"You think that's why those humans are hunting us?" Cliffjumper questioned.

"If it is, then that's pretty sick." Jolt commented, a disgusted look on his face.

"Either way, we won't find out if we don't do anything. Though I doubt we'll able to avoid a battle doing so." Hound said.

"You say it like that's a bad thing, Hound." Ironhide said to the commando.

"Maybe you don't have too, if you had some human help." Cade suggested.

His daughter did not seem to like the idea. "Dad, you can't possibly be thinking of helping them?" Tessa asked from her spot by her boyfriend.

"Sweetie, we're also on the run too. If we want to have our lives back, we need to know why." Cade reasoned.

"Optimus, you should know…it's not just us they're hunting." Arcee said, catching Prime's attention. The lone femme had been standing beside Bumblebee, the yellow mech having not said a word the whole time. "Cemetery Wind also kills any human sympathizers, no matter who they are." The femme added, placing a comforting hand on Bumblebee's.

It took a moment for Optimus to figure out what Arcee meant. But, after seeing the downtrodden look on Bumblebee's face, and the grief in his optics, the Prime came to terrifying conclusion. "No…not Sam." Optimus whispered.

"Just a few days after Autobot City was attacked." Ironhide said. "The bastards wanted the boy and his mate to give us up. They never did."

Optimus clenched his fingers, a restrained fury in his optics. It appears that witnessing all the deaths of those he called comrades had made something snapped inside the Prime. Looking down at the oldest human, Optimus asked, "Cade, do you know where this Kinetic Solutions is located?"

Cade noticed the snarl in the Prime's voice, and couldn't help but shiver at how terrifying it sound. Nevertheless, he managed to respond. "KSI's primary headquarters is located in Chicago. That's probably where they're taking them."

Optimus nodded and then looked to the others. They all seemed to know what their leader was thinking, and were merely awaiting his word. "Autobots, I have made many mistakes, I know. I had thought that if we attacked the humans, we would merely prove their fears of us. Thus, I ordered us to flee and hide. However, the rules have now changed. We shall go to Chicago. We shall find out why they are doing this, and put a stop to it. And when I find out who is responsible…they are going to die!"

"Slag yes!" Ironhide roared as he slammed his fists together.

"Hoo-ah!" Hound shouted, with the others also yelling in approval.

 **There you go! The Autobots are reunited and are ready for some revenge! Please be sure to leave a review! As for Flak, his death plays a significant role near the end of the story, but I'll let you guys figure that out.**

 **Wacko12**


	7. Discovery, Raids and Sabotage

**I like to say that I am glad people are enjoying this story so far. Regarding the question of Wheelie's whereabouts, it will be revealed in this chapter. Along with that, Adam will deliver some serious punishment on KSI and Cemetery Winds that so many of you were hoping for. Anyway, enjoy and be sure to leave reviews!**

 **(Autobots)**

With their sparks ignited with vengeful determination, the Autobots and their human allies quickly began making their way towards Chicago. As they did not need gas like normal vehicles did, they were able to make splendid time driving from Texas to Illinois. They only had to stop for the humans, whether it was to use the bathroom, buy food, supplies, or other needs. There was one moment where Cade came back with Shane and Tessa from behind a gas station, yelling at the former with all kinds of a threats. Adam decided not to get involved with that one and had a hard time looking at the couple for two days.

Finally, after five days of non-stop driving, the convoy arrived at the outskirts of Chicago. Fortunately, they discovered an abandoned building located on the outskirts of the city. It was big enough for all of them, and had enough space so the Autobots could transform into their robot forms. They wasted no time in securing their temporary safehouse, with Wheeljack setting up jammers to block any possible scans that might detect their energy signature. Cade and Adam, with the aid of Evac, Rewind, and Wheeljack quickly set up a workshop, fit with various items they would need in order to infiltrate KSI.

While they were doing that, Shane and Tessa would be performing recon of the KSI building, with the aid of the Autobots. Said Cybertronians would take turns, switching between recon and guard duty. The only one who would have to remain inside the building was Optimus, as he would be recognized right away. After a day of preparation, the group met that night to discuss the plan.

"Okay, so we're completely hooked up, and Adam is going to begin hacking into their systems as soon as he can." Cade began.

"Can he even do that?" Shane asked, sitting beside Tessa. The humans had set up a table to the side of a large corridor of the building, with the Autobots standing around them. "I mean, no offense, but isn't he like, what, ten?"

"Okay, first off, I'm right here." Adam said from his spot at the table. He had his laptop out and already on. The charger was plugged into a nearby surge protector, which had other various cables plugged into it. Also, he had the salvaged drone part with him too. "Second, I'm twelve." At that Shane had the decency to look sheepish while Evac and Rewind chuckled. Cade also had an amused look on his face. "And third, I've already bypassed their firewalls and opened several of their data files."

That seemed to impress the Autobots, with Jazz letting out a low whistle. "Damn boy, I don't think I've ever seen any of your kind work that fast."

"Trust me, sir, you haven't seen anything." Evac commented with a chuckle.

"Were you able to find anything related to what they are doing with Cemetery Wind?" Prowl asked as the others gathered around.

Adam shook his head. "No. Looks like anything related to Cemetery Wind is being sealed tight, and protected by several different locks." He explained. **(A/N: Computers are not really my strong point. I am working with what I know)** "I did find several transfers regarding funding from the military and government. It's being transferred from a private, unknown computer to the KSI's bank account."

"If it's related to the military, it might have something to do with Cemetery Wind." Ironhide said.

"That's what we're thinking. Adam said that whoever is bridging the military and KSI, has the same protective firewall coding as the files." Cade added.

"We might be able to learn a few more dirty secrets too." Adam commented.

"So, the plan is to somehow get pass these firewalls and gain access to the files." Tessa summarized.

"Basically" Adam replied.

"Doesn't sound like it will be easy from doing it out here." Mirage commented.

"That's right, Mirage. Which is why I made this." Adam said as he placed a silver, spherical shape object on the table. "A device I made from the supplies we got. Basically, it acts like receiver, a vanguard you might say, granting me even greater access into their systems. With it, I should be able to break down those defenses and see what their hiding. The problem is that it needs to be plugged into an outlet _inside_ the building."

"Meaning, one of you needs to sneak inside the KSI building." Hound said.

Cade took it from there. "That's where I come in. We've already made a fake identity badge for myself. That will let me get inside and plant the device into the first outlet I find. I'll also be able to get some additional footage while I roam around."

"It's a risky plan, but it's the only one we have." Optimus said in gratitude to the human's bravery. "We'll begin tomorrow morning. I'll have Bumblebee escort you inside the facility while the rest of us remain on standby outside. For now, though, I propose we all get some recharge."

There were murmurs of agreement from the Autobots and humans as they prepared to call it a day. The Autobots transformed into their vehicle mode, and switched on their emergency scanners, before heading into recharge. The humans headed for their sleeping bags they had gotten, with Rewind transforming into his alt form, resting besides Adam.

 **(Next Day, Early Afternoon, KSI Building)**

Joshua Joyce was a genius, as he perceived himself. A hardworking genius that is. He had worked long and hard, ever since he was young, sacrificed many things, to get where he was. As the head of KSI, one of the largest corporations in the world. His company was now at the head of the technological marketplace, with cutting edge technology that no one had ever seen before. And it had only risen higher thanks to the same mass of metallic particles in his hand: Transformium, as he called it, Cybertronian metal that he could now control. And it was partially thanks to Cemetery Wind and their extermination of any Transformer they find.

Presently, the director of said black ops, Harold Attinger, came marching into his large, private office, completely brushing pass the secretary. Joshua saw the cold look in the man's eyes, and could only assume something bad had happened. With a sigh, the KSI Head put down the ball of metal as Attinger approached his desk. "We have a problem." The man began.

"You mean besides not having the Seed yet, which I am still waiting for by the way." Joshua said.

Attinger was not in the mood as he said with an empty tone. "Did you know that your systems were invaded yesterday?" He asked.

Joshua frowned, wondering how he knew that. "Course I did, but we weren't able to trace the hacker's source as they retreated quicker than we could follow. Why?"

"We have reason to believe that it was this kid." Attinger answered as he put a picture on Joshua's desk. It held an image of Adam Nova at the time when Savoy's men were holding him.

Joshua stared at the picture, and then gave Attinger a look that he wasn't buying it. "You're kidding." Was all Joyce said.

What Attinger said next blew away Joshua's doubt. "After some research, we found out that he, Adam Nova, hacked into the Pentagon in 2010. In just an hour, he filled every screen of all shapes and sizes with a music video of the Space Jam theme." Attinger explained before adding, "He's currently twelve-years old."

Now Joshua was surprised…and impressed. To be able to hack into the Pentagon at the age of five required remarkable skills with a computer. Hell, if he had someone with such skill working for him, who knows what KSI could do. Joshua kept such thoughts to himself, though, as he asked the CIA agent, "Any reason why he would try something like that?"

"He and several other bystanders fled with Optimus Prime a few days ago from my men. One of the bystanders, an inventor by the name of Cade Yeager, stole one of your drones. Most likely he figured out that it came from here, and now they and the Autobots are trying to learn what we're up to." Attinger explained as he rubbed his forehead. Joshua, however, felt his stomach churn at the implication of that, the idea of what might happened if the Autobots discovered what was going on. "The chances of the Autobots coming here are high. We can't let them learn what's going on, or we're screwed. Everything we worked for, gone." Attinger muttered.

Joshua had a feeling that Attinger was referring to something else, but the KSI head said nothing. He knew by now that it was wise not to ask too many questions, especially when it involves trained killers. However, he did ask. "So, what do you want me to do?"

Attinger glared hotly at him, causing Joshua to subconsciously flinch at gaze. "If they come here, and they will, tell me immediately, understand? Prime will not let these humans leave his sight. Get these people and we get Prime. Get Prime, and you get your seed." Attinger instructed.

Joshua said nothing, he could only nod in understanding. And by then, Attinger had already stormed out of the office, as if he was running from something.

 **(Around the same time, Autobots)**

"Bumblebee just came back with the human Shane, Optimus." Arcee reported.

Bumblebee had just returned after taking Cade and Shane to the KSI building. If everything had gone well, then Cade would soon be inside no problem. And, he would have set up Adam's device at the same time. The rest of the group was currently in their vehicle modes, minus Optimus, who was on one knee. They were currently on the abandoned road that led from the building to the highway. Adam was inside Wheeljack along with Rewind, his laptop open and a portable hard drive plugged in. Though normally he would be with Evac, Adam figured that if a fight started, he wanted Evac to have room to transform. Besides, Wheeljack was helpful in hacking into the KSI database.

"Did everything go according to plan?" Optimus asked the pink femme.

"Sounds like it did. But something seemed to have made Bee mad. He kept muttering and cursing about "knock offs", "cheap imitations", and other less than pleasant words." Arcee said as the yellow mech parked alongside the others. Tessa entered the Camaro soon after and sat beside her boyfriend.

"Well, at least they got my receiver in." Adam commented as he looked at his laptop. Rewind was behind him, looking over Adam's shoulder. "I've successfully bypassed those pesky security walls, and now have access to the KSI system, as well as their files. Looks like they've been using the dead to make their own drones." He explained grimly as he saw several images of different models. One was what appeared to be a red version of Bumblebee, looking similar to Cliffjumper too, except was missing the horns and had door wings on its back. Adam kept searching as he finally reached his goal. "Now to find out who this mysterious third source is…" He muttered as he pressed keys at a fast rate. A few minutes later, several windows came up on the screen. What they showed made Adam's eyes widened and Rewind muttered, "Whoa…"

Before Adam could announce his discovery however, a screen appeared in front of him on Wheeljack's window. In fact, a screen appeared on every Autobot's front window. The image was coming from Cade's phone, and what it showed was not pretty. It showed several humans wearing white hazmat suits, melting and tearing apart a Cybertronian head. The head was a dark color and had what looked like a beard on it, or what was left of it. Its remaining optic was empty, completely devoid of life. Behind it, a giant axe was leaning against the wall, no doubt next. Every Autobot knew who this Cybertronian was, and it was Optimus who confirmed it.

"They slaughtered Jetfire!" The Prime roared, slamming his fist against the pavement, knocking over a street lamp. The Autobot's blue optics were filled with barely contained rage as he loudly declared, "I'm going to tear them apart!"

The others were in agreement. Every single one of them had their engines reeving up, like a mass of roars. The humans quickly buckled themselves in along with Rewind. Arcee created a holographic driver while Prowl and Ratchet brought their sirens to life. The two drove off first, soon followed by the rest of the Autobots. Even though the lieutenant and medical officer were using their alt modes to have vehicles move to the side, the human drivers probably would've done so anyway, since the Autobots were driving at full throttle.

A minute after entering the major part of Chicago, Adam reported, "I just hacked into their cameras. Security discovered Mr. Yeager. He's being brought to an office several floors up."

While Optimus was too deep in his rage to respond, Prowl still had the processors to issue orders through the coms. :Wheeljack, I want you to remain outside with the humans. Bumblebee, you and Drift retrieve Cade Yeager. The rest of us will follow Prime's lead!:

"And while you're doing that, I'll be preparing my own surprise for them." Adam said, his voice filled with mischief.

Rewind, who had figured out what Adam was planning, smiled mischievously. "You're going to make some noise?" Rewind asked.

"Going to make some noise." Adam replied.

The employees at KSI didn't even know what hit them. The moment the building came into view, all the Autobots saved Wheeljack transformed and smashed through. Whether it was through the front glass door or the walls, their entrance had the humans running for cover. Every one of them had their weapons out. Optimus took the lead, his Ion Blaster in hand, followed by Prowl and Ironhide. The weapon specialist slammed his fist down onto the ground, creating a small shockwave that sent nearby humans flying. Crosshairs fired his machine pistol into the air, startling humans in the upper floors. Mirage and Sideswipe left large gashes on walls, pillars and other solid objects with their blades. Jolt flicked out his electro whips, short circuiting nearby electronic devices. A KSI security personnel was about to call for back up, only to be knocked out from a well place punch, courtesy of Arcee. A few of his teeth also went flying too.

It didn't take them long to reach the lab. Optimus fired a shot from his Ion Blaster, destroying a part of the ceiling and scaring the humans. The engineers, scientists and soldiers all ran, screaming in terror. The other Autobots soon joined him, releasing their rage on the area.

"Clear out! All of you!" Optimus yelled as he fired another round, this time vaporizing an empty desk, startling more humans. "Destroy the lab, destroy it all!" He ordered the Autobots, and they were happy to comply.

"Science fair over, meatbags!" Hound shouted, firing his shotgun at the floor, just inches away from the fleeing humans. Crosshairs was behind him, shooting the trucks in the room, as well as cars and vans too. He took great pleasure in watching the human drivers jump out and run for their lives, laughing all the while.

"Destroy every one of these abominations!" Ratchet shouted, cutting a half-finished drone with his buzzsaw in multiple pieces. Mirage joined him, cutting down every drone he could find.

Ironhide took out his autocannons, firing everywhere. "Leave nothing standing!" He roared as he destroyed several cranes, tables, windows, drones and other objects.

"Timber!" Sideswipe cried as he cut off the legs of a large scaffold tower, watching with glee as it fell with a loud crash. He then dragged his blades across the floor, cutting through desks, tables and anything else in their path. The humans had the right idea to get out of the way.

"Get lost bitches!" Jazz yelled as he knocked aside several engineers, making one of them drop a donut he was eating. The saboteur found several of those metal particles, not yet used to build a drone. Raising his shield cannon, Jazz fired a single energy blast and destroyed them.

Jolt chased off a few scientists. "Beat it!" Jolt shouted as he flayed his whips everywhere, destroying items and causing computer screens to blow from the large flow electricity. A few humans, KSI security, attempted to shoot the blue mech, only to have Prowl use his energy-powered shield on his left arm to send several shelves flying, making the humans run for cover.

"Now this is more like it!" Evac yelled as he fired his wrist blasters, destroying anything that came into his optics' view.

"You can say that again, kid!" Cliffjumper roared as he picked up a long pipe. He then threw it and destroyed several large TV screens hanging from the wall. Arcee drove by him, chasing after humans with her blade, and at the same time knocking over anything that got in her way.

The Autobots were utterly destroying the lab, leaving nothing standing. Furniture was toppled over, vaporized, riddled with holes, or cut in half. Glass covered majority of the floor, while sparks and smoke could be seen rising out of several machines. Any drones that were in the lab at the time were destroyed, their parts scattered. The Cybertronians had no intention of leaving anything behind of this twisted mockery of life. The humans could only watch in stunned horror as all their work was being laid to waste.

Drift and Bumblebee soon joined them, having saved Cade and escorted him out of the building. Immediately, Drift approached where Jetfire's head and axe were, taking out his dual swords. With two skilled swings of his blades, the samurai bot freed the head from its restraints. "We shall make sure you are properly honored, elder one." Drift said softly as he picked up the ancient mech's head, and then grabbed his weapon.

Bumblebee made his own discovery as he fired his plasma cannon. After destroying several walls, the yellow mech found what looked like a small cage. Inside were two mini-cons, one was a blue mech with red optics, wheels for feet and was missing an arm. The other was a silver mech with light blue hair, as well as missing a leg and using a cane to support himself. They appeared to have been banging on the glass walls of their cage for some time.

:Wheelie! Brains!: Bumblebee exclaimed in shock at seeing the two drones.

"Bumblebee! Oh, thank Primus! I thought I never see a friendly bot!" Wheelie shouted in glee as he waved with his sole arm.

"Get us out of this Frankenstein box!" Brains demanded as he banged on the glass with his cane.

Bumblebee wasted no time and tore open the cage's lid. Extending a hand out, the drones quickly climbed up the offered palm. :I thought you guys were killed with Sam and Mikaela. If I had known…: Bee chirped, feeling guilty for leaving the two mini-cons to suffer for so long.

"No apologies necessary, big yellow. We knew you didn't mean to." Wheelie assured the yellow mech.

Brains nodded. "Yeah, now let's get back to the party! I want to tear some shit up!" The silver drone yelled.

However, the 'party' came to an end when a human voice shouted, somehow, over all the other noises. "Stop!" Joshua yelled furiously, walking up to the Autobots, followed by several agents. At the back was Darcy Tirrel, Joshua's geologist assistant and ex-girlfriend, who had a worried and horrified look on her face as she took in the carnage. Joyce didn't even seem to flinch under the noise of the Cybertronian weapons firing as he continued shouting, red in the face. "That's company property!"

Those words appeared to have angered Optimus even more. "They're _not_ your _PROPERTY_!" He roared as he kicked down a nearby shelf, nearly hitting Joshua. The man didn't even react, standing where he was, completely composed. Pointing at the remains of the drones, Optimus continued, his tone now a mix of fury and somber. "They were my friends. My allies, comrades…family. And _you_ murdered them. Desecrated their remains into these _things._ " He hissed.

The other Autobots quickly stood beside their leader, their weapons still out. They all appeared ready to kill Joshua at any moment. From Bumblebee's shoulder, the two drones took this chance for some payback for all the abuse they suffered. "What's the matter, dickwad? Nothing to say to save your sorry ass?!" Wheelie mocked.

"An't so tough, now that the big guns are in yo face! Huh?!" Brains added.

"Just give us the word, Prime." Ironhide growled, leveling his cannons at the human.

Hound did the same with his shotgun. "Going to make a big stain on the floor with you, baldy." The commando threatened. The others were ready to tear the human apart.

If Joshua was fazed, he didn't show it. Instead, he goaded them. "Go ahead, do it. Show the world your true colors." He said.

"Oh, it is so tempting to just vaporize his aft." Crosshairs said as he pointed his machine pistol at the human's head. He looked at Prime. "Just let me shoot him, please."

Again, Joshua was not the least bit scared. He looked up at Optimus. "Why don't you tell your _family_ that this" He said as he spread his arms around the ruins of the lab. "Is the spoils of war, Optimus. Dead metal, innovation-science. That is what's happening here-science."

"Is that what you think we are? Science?!" Arcee hissed as she raised her blade. Bumblebee stood beside her, leaning a hand on her shoulder so she didn't do anything reckless.

"Because if we don't do science here, then someone else will!" Joshua continued, ignoring the femme's cries. He pointed at Optimus. "And you and the humans you've tricked will not stop us, because you can't stand in the way of technology!"

"We are not your technology!" Optimus roared as he fired his blaster into the air. It struck the ceiling, causing fragments of cement and glass to fall. The other humans ran for cover, trying to avoid the debris. Joshua still stood his ground, continuing his non-sentimental monologue.

"I own your entire genome, Autobots." The KSI head said, mockingly. "I broke you, and now I own you…I can make you."

"B-b-b-b-bull!" A voice yelled, echoing off the walls. The sound caught everyone off guard, trying to figure out where it was coming from. A few seconds later, every screen, big or small, throughout the entire building, blacked out. Then they showed the Autobot insignia on them, and would not go away no matter what the humans tried to do.

 **(Security Room)**

After the 'meeting' with Cade, Attinger retreated to the security room with Savoy. The two watched from the cameras as the Autobots rampaged, destroying all their hard work. Needless to say, Attinger was not going to let this happen unpunished.

"Contact the nearest response force." Attinger ordered Savoy. "And make sure that local law enforcements don't get involved. Things are already messy enough as it is without amateurs butting in."

"Got it." Savoy replied as he headed out to get his team ready.

Attinger pulled out a Cybertornian communicator and turned it on. Putting it to his ears, Attinger said, "Prime is here. At the KSI building, with a full team of Autobots. I'd hurry if I were you. We don't want to miss this opportunity to finally snag him." Attinger said to Lockdown.

:Hmph, I don't need you to tell me that, human. I'm already on my way. And I'm bringing back-up, ones that I can rely on.: The Cybertronian mercenary said before cutting the link.

The Cemetery Wind leader frowned, wondering what Lockdown meant by that. But his thoughts shifted when all the screens in the room went black. The moment Attinger saw the Autobot symbol seconds later, he knew his day was going to get worse.

 **(Back with the Autobots)**

"You idiots didn't make anything like the Autobots. All you made are fakes, imposters, things that aren't worth even calling second rate!" The voice continued, coming from every speaker in the building.

It was Evac who first recognized the person. "Adam?" He asked/said.

Adam continued talking. "But, I can see that my words of wisdom will not reach you, Mr. Joyce, seeing how all that ego has filled your brain and probably why your hair is gone." A few Autobots snickered at that, while Joshua merely bristled. "So, I like to shift your attention to a certain song that is perfect for the occasion: Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. Enjoy."

The music began to play right after that. As it did, the Autobot symbol changed into Pacman. Facing the Pacman was a row of files, which it began to devour as the singing started.

 _I can't stand it I know you planned it! But I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate! I can't stand rocking when I'm in here, because your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear! So while you sit back and wonder why I got this fucking thorn in my side Oh my God, it's a mirage! I'm tellin' y'all it's a sabotage!_

"W-what's it doing?" Joshua demanded, finally losing his composure as he watched the Pacman eat file after file. A knot began to form in his stomach as his technicians could not give him an answer. "Well than, stop it!" He demanded. Meanwhile the Autobots just stood there, content with merely watching the human who had just recently stood up to them arrogantly, now being reduced into this panic state.

 _So listen up 'cause you can't say nothin', you'll shut me down with a push of your button? But I'm out and I'm gone I'll tell you now I keep it on and on!_

Hound started tapping his foot to the beat of the music, getting a look from Mirage. "What? It's catchy." The commando defended.

:Wheeljack? Are you there?: Optimus spoke through his communicator.

The scientist/inventor replied with a tone of disbelief. :Optimus! It-it's amazing! Absolutely incredible what young Adam is doing!: Wheeljack exclaimed.

:What? What is he doing?: Optimus asked as he continued observing the frantically moving humans.

:He's deleting the KSI files on us!: Wheeljack began. :To be more precise, Adam is downloading and deleting simultaneously. Everything they've acquired so far on our biology, cyber-matter, drone manufacturing, past, present and future projects. Everything that relates to their Cybertronian research and military weapons development, gone!:

The Autobots were all pleasantly surprised by that. More so that a young human such as Adam could accomplish such a feat, but also that he was able to extract the information at the same time. However, the important thing was that it put a serious dent in the human's plans for their own drone army, and for Optimus, that was better than anything he could've hoped for.

Putting his Ion Blaster back into his subspace, Optimus spoke to the others. "Autobots, we're done here." He said before walking away, ignoring the looks from the humans, those that weren't being yelled at by Joshua, or the music that was still playing.

One by one, the other Autobots followed their leader, putting away their own weapons too. Some of them were a bit disappointed that they weren't going to shoot the baldheaded human. "Damn, and I've been itching to kill something." Hound complained.

"Same here, though seeing the look on his face is way better." Crosshairs chuckled as he watched Joshua sink into possible insanity.

The drones shouted back at the KSI personnel from Bumblebee's shoulders. "See ya later, it's been fun!" Wheelie said sarcastically, waving with his sole hand.

"Have fun trying to do this shit without superior minds to help." Brains taunted.

The Autobots were casually walking out of the building, completely ignoring the humans who moved out of their way. When they got outside, they were greeted by Wheeljack and Rewind, as well as the humans. Optimus looked at Cade and Adam. "Thank you two, you have brought some measure of justice to our fallen. And I apologize for any trouble that may have happened to you, Cade." Prime said.

Cade shrugged. "No big deal. At least I got a look at the asshole that ordered my family to be killed." He said as he hugged Tessa. The girl was clearly relieved that her father was alright, especially after learning he was in the same room with a killer.

"Optimus, I'm detecting several human vehicles approaching. Most likely Cemetery Wind. I advised we leave now." Prowl said to his leader.

"Agreed, Prowl. Autobots, roll out." Optimus ordered before transforming. The others followed suit, with Cade, Tessa and Shane entered Bumblebee, while Adam got in Evac with Rewind. Once everyone was ready, the Autobots took off, heading towards the closes exit out of the city. All the while, they never noticed the black Saleen S281 police car parked three blocks away. Or the dark blue General Atomics Avenger flying above.

 **Well there you go, the Autobots have taken their revenge of KSI and are now fleeing Chicago. Next chapter will consist of awesome fighting, fast driving, chasing scene, and revealing secrets. Be sure to leave a review!**


	8. Chasing, Captured, and Secrets Revealed

**Now for the chase scene. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. In this chapter, some surprises will be revealed so be ready. Finally, be sure to leave reviews!**

 **(KSI Building)**

Harold stormed the KSI building, searching for Joshua. Already, paramedics had arrived on the scene, helping any injured, while fire fighters and KSI personnel were attempting to put out any flames created in the attack. Cemetery Wind agents had also arrived, and were now securing the building while working with Chicago Police. Attinger ignored all this, moving past others as he searched for the KSI head, Savoy right on his heels. Eventually, he found Joshua on the skyway, talking with several of his technicians. With him were Darcy and Su Yueming, the CEO of KSI's China operations. Joshua had a very upset look on his face as he spoke with his employees.

The conversation stopped when they saw Attinger approach them. "The Autobots have just reached the city's limits. We need to pursue them immediately. How many drones can you-?"

"It's all gone." Joshua muttered, as if stuck in a daze. "All of it, gone."

Attinger frowned. He didn't know what Joyce was referring to, but he didn't like it. "Gone? What's gone?" Attinger demanded.

Still in a daze, Joyce told him. "During the attack, they somehow accessed our files. The Autobots erased everything we had on the Transformers; all the data we had accumulated these past few years, gone. Even if we had more Transformium, without that data, we have no way of constructing more drones."

That bit of news nearly made Attinger lose it. All that work, all that data on the biology of Cybertronians, the knowledge that allowed KSI to build an army of their own Transformers for Cemetery Wind. Gone, all gone in a single day. However, the man managed to keep his composure as he stood in front of Joshua. Once the KSI head snapped out of his daze did Attinger speak.

"Right now, several aliens just did an unprovoked attack on a defense department contract company. This is now a CIA operation and is under my jurisdiction." Attinger said to Joshua. "This is our chance to capture Optimus and get the Seed you wanted. You're indemnified, so respond!"

There was a moment of silence, as everyone on the skywalk looked at both Joshua and Attinger. Eventually, Joshua turned to his technicians. "Which units do we have available right now?"

Unprepared for the question, the technician didn't know what to say. He managed to regain his composure as he replied, "R-right now we have units codenamed Galvatron, Stinger, and Junkheap units currently available." The man said.

"Okay, get them online immediately." Joshua ordered, with Attinger having a pleased look on his face. The two, followed by Savoy and the two women made their way towards the command center. Already, people were setting things up, screens were on and controls were being handled. Three screens show several different vehicles. One was a black and grey Freightliner Argosy truck, with the name Galvatron at the bottom. Next up was a red and black Pagani Huayra, the word Stinger under it. The last one was a greenish-yellow and white Isuzu Giga Garbage Truck, labeled Junkheap. All of them began taking shape before driving outside the facility.

"Let's show these alien terrorists what an upgrade looks like." Joshua said with conviction, his previous anxiety forgotten.

 **(Decepticon Base)**

"Soundwave, report." Shockwave ordered from where he stood. Surrounding the one-eyed Decepticon were several holographic screens in the air. They showed different images, including the Autobots driving on the highway, Barricade who was pursuing them, Soundwave in the air, and now the KSI drones that were on the road.

:Autobots are continuing on their current path. Drones are on the opposing lane. Calculate that they shall collide shortly.: Soundwave said.

"Excellent, I have a ground team ready to move in. You shall continue your observations, and inform me of the situation, assist when necessary." Shockwave ordered before activating several more screens next to Barricade's. The first one showed was Sideways. The second screen was of a white and red Audi TT, with black lines over it, labeled as Fracture. The Next up was Dropkick, disguised as a grey and purple Ford F-150. The final screen had two vehicles, driving side by side. One was Swindle, his alt mode a brownish-tan Cougar MRAP, and the other was Payload, a purple Bulldog II Armored Truck.

"Ground team, pursue the Autobots. Fracture is in command. We must separate them from Optimus, that is the objective. Do not engage them right away, let the human-made drones engage the Autobots first. We can have them take the brunt of the damage. Vehicon teams of Beta, Delta and Zeta units will reinforce you." Shockwave explained.

"Understood" Fracture replied.

 **(On Highway)**

The Autobots were speeding through the highway, trying to make as much distance between them and Chicago as they could. Ratchet and Prowl had taken the lead again, their alt modes granting them some room as they zoomed by traffic. The others followed close behind, not risking the chance of being separated in the event their enemies attacked. Bumblebee and Evac, as the only ones with passengers, stayed mostly in the middle of the group.

Unfortunately, a military reaper was flying above them, as well as Soundwave, though the Decepticon made sure to stay out of the humans' scanners. "Reaper has visuals of targets." A soldier reported in the KSI command room.

The humans watched as the Autobots and the drones were quickly approaching one another. When the groups were 200 meters apart, the order was given. "Galvatron, transform. Have the other drones remain in vehicle mode for now." The commander ordered.

"Copy that, initiating transformation." The operator said as he pressed a few keys.

In response, the truck broke down into metallic particles. It began flying in the air towards the opposite road. However, much to the humans' horror, Galvatron destroyed several human occupied vehicles upon transforming into its robot mode. The scary part was that, the way the drone move, it almost looked like it was deliberate. The only one who did not seem all too caring was Attinger, whose only focus was capturing Optimus.

"We our controlling this, right?" Joshua asked.

"Yes. Mostly." A technician responded, though that did little to ease Joyce's worries.

Getting back on focus, the operator ordered Galvatron to fire rockets at the oncoming Autobots. By then, said Cybertronians took notice of the drones.

:Autobots, we have incoming!: Optimus warned.

:Where the slag did they come from? And how come we didn't pick them up?: Ironhide asked as he watched Galvatron preparing to fire.

:These drones don't run on Energon, so our scanners couldn't detect them.: Wheeljack explained.

:Nevertheless, they're in our way. What's the plan, Prime?: Jazz asked.

:It's too late to retreat, but we can't risk a prolong fight with these drones.: Optimus explained. :Ironhide, Hound, with me at the front. We're going to ram through them. Bumblebee, you and Evac remain in the middle. Protect the humans. Sideswipe, Mirage, Drift and Crosshairs, cover our rear. Cliffjumper, Prowl, Jazz and Jolt, the sides. Ratchet, Wheeljack and Arcee, stay in the middle with Bee and Evac.: The Prime ordered.

Optimus took the lead, with Ironhide and Hound on both sides. The rest took their positions while avoiding rockets. Galvatron was forced to move out of the way as the Autobots drove by. The operator for Junkheap made the vehicle transform, splitting into three different drones. The drones tackled the nearest Autobot, which happened to be Ironhide. Said weapon specialist transformed and grappled with one of the drones while the other two were thrown back.

:Ironhide!: Optimus yelled out to his friend.

:Keep going, I'll catch up! Won't take me too long in dealing with these punks!: Ironhide responded as he delivered a strong punch to the drone's face.

From the screen, Attinger watched the current events. "Have those three hold Ironhide. He's one of the strongest Autobots. Get Galvatron and Stinger to pursue the others. Make them separate the Autobots from Optimus." Attinger ordered.

"Copy that, pursuing." The commander said, just as the two other drones transformed and drove after the other Autobots.

Back with Ironhide, he activated his cannons just as two of the Junkheap drones brought out their shotguns. They opened fire, releasing volleys of shrapnel at Ironhide. But the black mech brushed their attacks off with ease. Leveling his cannons, Ironhide fired a single plasma shell round from each cannon. One round struck a drone in the head, blowing it off, while the other was struck through the chest. The third drone lunged at Ironhide while he was distracted by the other two. But the weapon specialist's centuries of experience made him quick to counter the drone's charge. Ironhide quickly grabbed it by the shoulders, followed by slamming the drone down on the ground hard, creating cracks in the dirt. He finished it off by stomping on the drone's head, smashing it into pieces. Once they were down, Ironhide transformed and drove off, hoping to catch up with the others.

The operator cursed as the camera feed disconnected, slamming his fists against the controls. "Junkheap lost" The commander said grimly. Neither Joshua nor Attinger looked pleased.

Back with the others, the Autobots were continuing to drive through the highway, Galvatron and Stinger hot on their tail. Stinger fired two missiles, nearly hitting Mirage and Crosshairs. :Why the slag are we running?! Let's just waste them here and now!: Crosshairs suggested.

:Too risky. For all we know, they could have other drones lying in wait. We should continue moving until we can lose them or take them out once we're further away from Chicago, out of the state most likely.: Prowl said.

Suddenly several sonic blasts hit the pavement near the moving Autobots, nearly causing some of them to drive off the road. "Whoa, what the hell was that?!" Shane exclaimed as he was tossed back and forth in his seat.

:Sonic blasts! Very lethal!: Wheeljack explained as he dodged another of said projectiles. :Cybertronian technology. But the only one who uses sonic weaponry is-:

Flying over the Autobots, a dark blue Avenger swooped by. It then did a turn and performed another barrage of sonic blasts down on the Autobots. The concussive blasts caused dust to rise up as the Autobots to perform drastic maneuvers. Fortunately, the Autobots managed to either dodge or received minimal damage. They continued driving, now moving faster.

It was Crosshairs, though, who brought up what everyone was thinking. :If that really is Soundwave, how the slag is he still online?! I thought you terminated him, Bee!: The paratrooper radioed.

:We'll focus on it later! Right now, we need to keep moving before he gets a lock on us.: Optimus ordered.

Meanwhile, the humans were watching this all from the Reaper drone. To say they were confused was an understatement. "That's not one of ours, is it?" Joshua questioned, looking at Attinger. The man also seemed a bit befuddled by the aircraft's sudden appearance. "Negative sir, we'll try to figure out where it came from." The commander said.

"Sir, we're seeing several more vehicles nearby performing odd movements." An operator reported.

True enough, several vehicles driving on the overpass that the Autobots were about to pass, began to change. The first one was Fracture, who quickly jumped down, just as Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl and Evac passed by the overpass. Activating the seismic energy dischargers at the bottom of her feet, the Decepticon femme unleashed a powerful shockwave that ripped the ground apart. The vehicles close by were sent flying from the shockwave, while several others lost their balance and either drove off the road or crashed into one another. The other Autobots were forced to do a sudden stop, and quickly transformed. The only ones that managed to get by were Galvatron and Stinger, splitting into particles again and passing the Cybertronians. Dropkick was next to transform, summoning his arm-mounted rocket cannons. He took aim at the drones but was stopped by Fracture.

"Do not concern yourself with them, Dropkick. Our targets are here." Fracture said as she turned towards two other Cons. "Barricade, Sideways. Go with Soundwave and assist with capturing Optimus. The rest of us will deal with these Autobots." Fracture ordered.

"Copy that." Barricade responded. He and Sideways then leaped over the other side of the overpass, before transforming and began pursuing Prime.

"Now then." Fracture said as she turned her attention to the other Autobots. The nearby humans were already fleeing, some running while others backed up and drove off. She paid them no mind. "It's been a while since I got to tear apart Autobots." The Decepticon femme hissed. She, Dropkick, Swindle and Payload were soon joined by several grey Triumph Thruxton, Chevrolet Express, and Cadillac. The Vehicons transformed and readied their Pulse Machine Guns and Plasma Rockets.

This did not deter the Autobots in the slightest. "Yeah, and it's been a while since we got to bust up some Decepticon punks!" Jazz yelled as he raised his shield cannon, thus initiating the skirmish.

 **(Back at KSI)**

"We have confirmed sightings of several Transformers engaging one another on the highway. Galvatron and Stinger are still in pursuit of Optimus." An operator reported over the other voices.

Chaos, was the best word to describe what was happening in the command center. They had already lost one unit during the conflict, and another was possibly malfunctioning, already creating possible casualties. Now, several more Cybertronians had appeared and were engaging the Autobots in battle. Not including the sole one that was flying in the air, somewhere near their Reaper.

"We need medical teams now. Possibility of civilian casualties…" The commander was saying through his transmitter. Nearby, Joshua had an upset look on his face. He had no intention of getting innocent humans caught in the crossfire, and now one of his own creations caused more damage than the aliens did. Talk about irony.

His mood worsened when Attinger spoke next to him. "This is a small price to pay for what we're doing for this world, our country." The man said, as if trying to make Joshua see the positive of this situation. "Innocent lives die every day, Joshua, you should know this by now. We can't let a few accidents have us falter towards our goal."

For some reason, those words made Joyce angry. He always had a feeling that Attinger was not always who he said he was, or the reasons for his actions. The way he also brushed aside those deaths made Joshua feel sick. However, the KSI head kept his displeasure of Attinger himself, instead asking another question.

"And what about those new Transformers that just appeared?" Joshua demanded as he pointed at the screen. The one that showed the Autobots facing off against the Decepticons and Vehicons, several of the latter already destroyed. "Are these your 'assets' you were talking about?" Joshua asked Attinger again. A part of the KSI head was feeling concerned about all this, as well as the fact civilians had gotten caught in the crossfire.

For a moment, Attinger hesitated. He too was surprised by the arrival of the Decepticons, and wondered if these were the 'back-up' Lockdown had mentioned earlier. However, he managed to compose himself before replying. "Course they are. You don't expect me let you handle this alone?" He lied.

Joshua didn't seem fully convinced by that, but let it go for now. There were more important things to focus on. Such as when Galvatron operated on its own again.

"Whoa! Misfire, misfire!" An operator shouted.

On the screen, it showed Galvatron firing rockets at the four Autobots. The rockets missed their targets, as the Autobots skillfully moved out of the way. The bad part about that was the projectiles struck several more pedestrian vehicles. One of them was a truck that lost its connection to the trailer it was pulling. The trailer collapsed, spilling its contents across the street and directly in front of the Autobots. Unfortunately, while Prowl and Evac were able to pull the brakes, there was little time for Optimus and Bumblebee to stop. Instead, they increased their speed.

"Whoa, whoa! Bumblebee, what are you doing?!" Cade yelled as he, Tessa and Shane were suddenly thrust out of the yellow bot when he transformed. Optimus did the same and both mechs jumped over the tipped trailer, going above the overpass too. As if in slow motion, Optimus grabbed the three humans, shielding them from impact, and quickly transformed back into vehicle mode and took off. Meanwhile Bumblebee, hanging from the overpass with his feet, armed his rockets and took aim at Galvatron. Immediately, the yellow mech fired as soon as the drone neared the down truck. Galvatron, though, merely broke into metal particles again and avoided the rockets, slipping past the yellow Autobot before continuing its pursuit of Optimus. Clearly surprised, Bumblebee retracted his battle mask, showing his wide optics. However, he had little time to stay in shock, as the sound of fighting from behind caught Bee's attention.

Having caught up with them, Barricade and Sideways engaged in a brawl with Prowl and Evac respectively. Stinger had already fallen back, its operator having the drone return to base. Adam took cover behind a support pillar of the overpass, the mini-cons with him too. Bumblebee brought out his plasma cannon and ran to help, only to be blocked by three Beta-class Vehicons.

Back with Prowl, the lieutenant was engaging his black-colored counterpart with his riot shield. While Barricade waves his pair of gyro-blades like flails. Already the Con had managed to inflict several scratches on Prowl, and was slowly backing him into a corner. "This planet isn't big enough for two cops, Autobot." Barricade hissed as he struck his weapon against Prowl's shield.

"You're right, faker." Prowl replied. In that moment he swung his shield outwards, smacking Barricade's gyro-blades. The force of the hit made the Con lose his grip on his weapon, causing it to fly out of his servos. "Time for you to move out!" Prowl shouted as he pulled his Neutron SMG from subspace. Barricade had no time to react as his white counterpart fired several shots. Two struck his chest, another struck his left shoulder, a fourth shot his right forearm off, and the fifth one blew off a part of his face. The Con was sent flying backwards, screaming in pain as he hit the concrete road, hard.

Prowl prepared to move in for the kill, when he was suddenly strike in the back by something hard and searing hot. The Autobot lieutenant let out a hiss of pain as he was forced to his knees. Another shot made Prowl fall to the ground, clutching his wounds.

"Prowl!" Evac shouted as he dodged Sideways' blades. However, he too was struck by an energy projectile, hitting him the left leg. The young knight had little time to react as Sideways took this opening to deliver a powerful right hook to Evac's face, sending the young bot crashing.

From the overpass, Hangnail held his photon rifle, smoke coming out of the barrel. Lockdown's right-hand bot took noticed that Bumblebee was still dealing with the two Vehicons. Then he spotted Adam and the three mini-cons. He immediately jumped down and dashed towards the smaller targets. His hands reached out to grab his target.

"Run!" Adam shouted as he Rewind, Wheelie and Brains tried to escape. They weren't fast enough, though, as Hangnail fired a low-level shot from his rifle at the ground near them. The blast sent the four flying, with the mini-cons falling on top of each other. Adam fell on the ground away from them, his clothes burnt a little, and a large gash on his right arm, with himself rendered unconscious.

"Adam…" Rewind and Evac weakly cried. They could only watch as the Cybertronian Mercenary roughly pick up their human friend. Without even looking at the Autobots and Decepticons, Hangnail transformed into his Ford Explorer alt mode and took off, with Adam strapped inside. Just a few seconds later, Bumblebee had killed the three Vehicons and was now shooting at Sideways and the injured Barricade. The two Cons retreated as Bee continued firing at them. Once they were out of sight, the yellow bot ran up to Evac and Prowl.

:Are you guys okay?: Bumblebee asked.

"I'm fine, Bee. Go check on the mini-cons." Prowl ordered the scout.

As Bumblebee went to do that, Prowl helped up Evac. The blue mech was about to transform and go after Hangnail when the Lieutenant stopped him. "Wait, Evac"

"Don't stop me, Prowl! That slagger took Adam, and I'm not letting him get away!" Evac said.

Prowl was not deterred. "And what will you do if he uses the boy as a hostage? You'll just end up getting yourself killed and Adam will still be in his clutches." The lieutenant explained. "Plus, look at your leg."

True enough, the leg that Hangnail shot had a large hole on it. Sparks could be seen flying out and a bit of energon dripping. "With that leg as it is, you won't be able to do anything until Ratchet patches it up. Take the Mini-cons and regroup with the others. Bumblebee and I will go after Hangnail." Said Prowl.

Evac looked like he still wanted to argue, but conceded to Prowl's suggestion. He willingly allowed the three Mini-cons climb on his shoulder before entering his chest compartment he made for Rewind. Then young knight then watched Bumblebee and Prowl transform and drive off. Evac eventually did the same, driving in the opposite direction.

 **(With Optimus)**

Millennia of battle gave Optimus a clear sign that the Decepticons were trying to separate him from the others. He had no idea why they appeared now of all times, or if they were working with Cemetery Wind. Right now, though, Optimus' focus was escaping the pursuing Drone and Soundwave, while at the same time protect the three humans with him. Several times he had tried to contact the Autobots, only for his transmissions to be jammed, no doubt because of Soundwave.

Presently, Optimus was driving on a local road, where there were less humans. Galvatron was still on his tail and Soundwave was preparing another dive. The drone fired several more rockets at Prime, at the same time Soundwave fired more sonic projectiles. Both struck the Optimus and the concrete near him, causing the Prime to lose his balance and forcing him to transform. Luckily, Prime was able to eject Cade, Shane and Tessa safely, letting them roll off the road on the grassy field. Summoning his face mask, Optimus engaged Galvatron as the drone transformed. The two launched punches after punches at one another, making metal chip off them. Galvatron's operator was trying his best to keep up with Prime, and surprisingly got some support from Soundwave, who transformed to his true form.

Soundwave's robot form was similar to what he had before he scanned an earth vehicle, back when he still had his satellite form. That included the wing-like appendages on his back, as well as a visor covering his optics. The key difference was his color was now a dark blue, with a mix of lighter blue in it **(Look up Soundwave Movie and you'll probably find an image of his robot form).** The Decepticon communication officer summoned his Sonic Cannon and fired at Optimus.

Optimus managed to avoid some of the projectiles, but between melee combat with Galvatron, and Soundwave's range attacks, Optimus was being pinned. Acting quickly, Optimus delivered a kick to the drone, making it stumble backwards. The Prime than pulled out his Barrage Cannon and unloaded its warhead ammunition at Soundwave immediately. The Decepticon was forced to move to cover as to avoid Optimus' attack, using his tentacles to deflect some of them. The Autobot leader was attacked again by Galvatron, who used its arm-blade to cut off the barrel of Optimus' cannon.

Tossing aside his destroyed weapon, Optimus pulled out his Energon Axe and used it against Galvatron's blades. The two were evenly matched as their weapons clashed against one another. "You have no spark, abomination!" Optimus roared as he did a downward strike.

But Galvatron was faster. He caught the weapon and brought it to the vortex grinder on his chest. The moment the axe went through, the grinder disintegrated it. "That is why I have no fear!" Galvatron replied with a hiss.

In those few seconds, both Optimus' and Soundwave's optics widened. That voice, they both knew that voice very well. Just hearing it made their processors freeze. However, that moment of hesitation left Optimus Prime opened to an attack from behind, creating a small explosion on Optimus' back that sent him to his knees. Another shot sent the Autobot leader flying and crashed on the pavement hard.

The attacker was none other than Lockdown, retracting his face cannon. Floating behind him was his ship. He paid no heed to Galvatron, who had transformed under orders from KSI and was pulling back. The mercenary gave a brief nod to Soundwave. The communication officer gave one back before transforming and flying out of the vicinity.

Lockdown detected the three humans nearby, but he ignored them as he approached Optimus. Kneeling beside the Prime, Lockdown said, "I pity you, Optimus, for your allegiance with these humans. You see the trouble with being loyal to a cause…is that it will eventually betray you."

Optimus growled, trying to move but to no avail. The damage from Galvatron and Soundwave, as well as Lockdown, was too much. "Who sent you?" Was all Optimus could do right now.

"Where do you think you came from? Do you think you were born?" Lockdown asked sarcastically. Then he delivered the truth. "You were _built_. And your Creators want you back." The mercenary said.

The sound of a car engine caught to their attention. Approaching them was Hangnail. Off the road, the three humans, hiding behind a rock, watched as he transformed, revealing an unconscious Adam in his hand. "Adam!" Cade exclaimed as he saw the kid. He was about to run up and get him, but was stopped by Shane and Tessa, the two holding him back.

"Dad, stop! If you go out there, you'll be killed!" Tessa exclaimed. While she was also distraught at seeing the unmoving form of the twelve-year old, she knew there was nothing they could do.

Meanwhile, Hangnail approached his leader. "Secondary target secured." He said to Lockdown as he showed Adam.

"What do you want with the boy?" Optimus demanded, angered at seeing Adam being handled like some inanimate object.

"You didn't know, Prime? I'd thought you have detected it sooner." Lockdown said as he snatched the boy from his second-in-command. "Here, look." The mercenary said as he knelt closer to Optimus.

He indicated to the large gash on Adam's right arm. But to Optimus' surprise, instead of blood coming out, there was Energon. To further his surprise, the wound was quickly sewn up by metal. Optimus was speechless at what he saw. Not just the fact that the human boy had Energon in his body, but the speed of that regeneration was only possible from a certain artifact.

"If you haven't figured it out from that, then I'll explain it to you, Prime." Lockdown said as he stood up, Adam still in his hand. "Before it's destruction, the Allspark somehow transferred its energy, as well as the data it held, into a human female's womb. That energy mixed with the female's ovum, creating this…thing." He said, indicating to Adam. "A Human-Cybertronian hybrid with the Allspark's power. And the Creators, they want to know how this came to be."

And with that, the mercenary summoned his dropship from the main vessel. Once it reached them, Lockdown and Hangnail, with Adam still in the former's grip, entered the ship. They then released a net that snagged Optimus. With Prime securely held, the dropship took off and headed back to the Knight's Ship.

A few minutes later, Bumblebee and Prowl arrived. They quickly transformed as their human allies joined them. All five of them watched as Lockdown's ship began moving towards Chicago. Prowl turned to the humans. "Where's Prime?" He asked.

Cade pointed to the ship. "That mercenary, Lockdown took him! He also has Adam, too!"

Immediately, Prowl activated his coms. At the same time Bumblebee transformed back into his vehicle form, letting the humans get in. "Prowl to all Autobots. Give me a report."

:This is Ironhide. I'm with the others. Decepticons have already retreated. Minor wounds on our side. What happened?: Asked Ironhide.

"Lockdown has Prime and the boy. We regroup inside the city, Chicago. We're getting them back."

 **There you have it! The shocking truth about Adam. Be sure to leave a review of what you think.**

 **Also, here is a list of the alt modes the Vehicons have and their classifications:**

 ** **Alpha-Class: Eurofighter Typhoon****

 **Delta-Class: Chevrolet Express**

 **Epsilon-Class: Bell-AH-1 Cobra**

 **Zeta-Class: Triumph Thruxton**

 ** **Gamma-Class: Leopard 2****

 **Beta-Class: Cadillac Ciel**


	9. Rescue Part 1

**Be sure to leave a review!**

"Hi" Human's speaking

" _Hi" Humans talking through phones_

' _Hi' Thinking_

:Hi: Cybertronian communicators

" **Hi" Cybertronian Talking**

 **(Pentagon, Washington D.C)**

Glenn Whitmann had moved up in the world ever since Mission City. Once he had been nothing but a computer genius, living under the same roof with his cousin, mother and grandmother. Now, seven years later, he here was in the Pentagon, working alongside his friend, the still looking hot, Maggie Madsen, as a part of a military computer anti-cyber terrorist team, under direct orders of Secretary of Defense, John Keller. The work was good, pay was good with Glen having finally been able to move out and get his own house.

So, imagine his surprise when he got an email from someone he hadn't heard from in a while. In it were several files attached, all of them heavily secured and coded. Knowing that whatever this person found had to be big, like internationally big, Glen immediately headed off to find Maggie and Keller, his Tablet under his arms. It wasn't that hard, as a large number of people were heading towards the command room. And whenever this many people go too, the Secretary of Defense was there too.

True enough, Glen was right. With them were several other people, military obviously, as well as Tom Banachek, former Sector Seven agent and now an advisor for Keller. Their focus was on several different size screens with an image of a giant alien ship hovering over Chicago. Everyone else in the room were running about, talking to one another or through headphones. It was clear that they didn't know if they should make contact, attack or just watch.

For a moment, Glen forgot about the email, his eyes fixed on the large space ship. "Whoa, is that a dear to honest God UFO?" Glen muttered as he walked up next to Maggie.

"Yeah, and looking at its design, has to be Cybertronian." Maggie replied.

"I believe Ms. Madsen is correct." Keller said as he shifted his attention from the screen to his advisors. "Can we confirm if it's hostile?" He asked.

"So far the ship has made no hostile movement. But, we have a squadron ready to move if they try anything." Tom said.

Keller nodded. "What about Cemetery Wind, have we heard anything from them on this?" John asked, saying the name with distaste.

"No, Attinger is either ignoring our calls or we can't reach him." Tom answered again.

John cursed under his breath. "Of course" He said before noticing Glen and his tablet. "Something you wish to share with us, Mr. Whitmann?" Keller asked.

Snapping out his stupor (After all, this was the first alien ship he had ever seen) Glen got back on track. "I just got an email from a buddy of mine, Adam Nova. A master in computers and mechanics, the best hacker on the planet. He just sent this email, with a huge ass number of files, all of them heavily decrypted." Glen said as he handed the tablet to Keller.

"Did you say Adam Nova?" Tom asked as Keller and Maggie looked at the files. Glen nodded in response.

"Do you know him, Banachek?" Keller asked.

"Not personally, no. But I did know his mother." Tom began, getting everyone's attention. "Lucy Nova was a member of Sector Seven for some time. To be precise, she was in charge of the research team studying the Allspark. It was thanks to her, we were able to make great leaps in understanding it and the Cybetronians. But in 2005, she resigned after discovering she was pregnant. We never inquired who the father was, and it seemed like she didn't know either. Before S7's disbandment, we kept an eye on her and her son, Adam, like we did with all former agents."

"Can we get in contact with this Lucy Nova?" Keller asked Tom, handing the tablet back to Glenn. He and Maggie were discussing about the coding used for the decryption.

"Unfortunately, that's not possible. Lucy was listed among the casualties of the Chicago Battle." Tom said sadly. "I had thought at the time that her son was killed also, but it looks like I was wrong."

"That's around the same time when I stopped hearing from Adam too." Glen added. "The whole hacker community was in an uproar about a possibility of him being killed."

"Sirs" Maggie said, her Australian accent catching their attention. "The some of the files have the initial have KSI, and others have CW." She revealed.

"KSI? Like Kinetic Solutions Incorporated?" Glen asked his friend.

"It's a possibility." Maggie replied before he eyebrows knitted. "But what does CW mean?"

"Cemetery Wind" Was the answer Tom gave. "I've been having Attinger tracked ever since his black ops was formed. I noted that he has been going to Chicago for the past three years. And it's the same city where KSI headquarters is located. Secretary, there is no way it can be a coincidence."

Keller nodded. "You have a point, Banachek. But that also makes this whole situation a lot more complicated." He said before staring back at the screen. The ship was now over the Chicago River. It was holding its position for right now, but there was no telling when it might move. Keller than turned back to his advisors. "Continue updating me if any changes happen. Banachek, tell Cemetery Wind's liaison to meet with me immediately. Then get a call to KSI, I want to talk with their Company Head. Glen, Maggie, start breaking those files. I want to know what their holding in the next hour."

 **(Chicago, KSI Headquarters)**

A black SUV and two Rally Fighters were waiting for them outside the building. The moment Lockdown had captured Prime, Attinger and Savoy were already making preparations to begin the exchange. Harold entered the SUV, while James got inside one of the Fighters. The SUV went in one direction, and the Rally Fighters went towards another.

"Savoy, prep the chopper and pick up the seed from Lockdown. He's parking the ship near the harbor so meet him en-route there." Attinger ordered over the phone.

" _Copy that, what about you?"_ Savoy asked as he watched the giant alien ship hover over the harbor.

The sound of jet engines overhead made Attinger look up. Three different planes, a grey and red F-16 Fighting Falcon, a green and white F/A-18 Hornet, and a brown and tan F-35 Lightning II flew pass them towards Lockdown's ship. Attinger paid them no mind as he kept speaking through the phone. "Our men intercepted a call from the Pentagon to KSI. It has to be Keller. I'm going to have our men block them while I deal with the liaison, try and buy us some time until we can smooth this over. Let me know the moment you get the Seed and we'll meet with Joshua." Attinger said.

" _Understood"_

 **(Lockdown's Ship)**

The ship that once carried proud Knights of Cybertron, was now a living nightmare. Cybertrnian Mercenaries and Cyber-Wolves roamed the walkways, and cells of various size were filled with different species from across the cosmos. On one walkway was Lockdown, still holding onto Adam. Behind him was Hangnail, and in front was Optimus, who was restrained on a platform, pulled by dozens of drones. The only part of his body Prime could move was his head. He gazed at the ship with a look of sadness and disgust.

Lockdown began to speak. "Do you remember this ship, Prime. Built for you Knights, the Great Crusaders to explore the Universe. Though you chose to remain on Cybertron when it left thousands of years ago. Well I've commandeered it, using it as my own personal prison." The mercenary explained.

As they continued moving, they passed by a large hangar bay underneath them. Down there were several mercenaries, guarding a single large ship. Optimus' optics immediately widened when he recognized the vessel. "The Ark."

"Yes, the name for Omega Supreme's alt mode." Lockdown said. "I found it on Mars a few months ago. Able to snag it before it and its crew of Autobots could escape. However, getting inside has been difficult. Omega activated his security measures, and has barred all access to anyone outside. Normally I'd just blast a hole through it, but the Creators were quite adamant of keeping the Ark intact, as well as its _cargo_. After all, inside are the last surviving Hatchlings, and I'm sure they would love to meet with that sparkmate of yours." Explained Lockdown.

Optimus growled at the threat Lockdown made towards Elita-1. One way or another, he would kill the mercenary for what he has done.

Lockdown stopped to hand Adam over to Hangnail. "Put him in sector 72. Then retrieve the Seed and meet me at the upper walkway. Once we give the humans what they want, we're leaving this pathetic world." He said.

Hangnail appeared confused. "But, sir, aren't we going to give the Seed to Shockwave? Why give it to the humans?" The second-in-command asked.

"It was Shockwave who wanted this. He most likely has some plan, not that it matters to me." Lockdown replied as he continued transporting Optimus. Hangnail accepted the answer and walked in a different direction.

Eventually, Lockdown and Optimus arrived in a large room. At the center of the room was a platform that was connected by a single bridge. A pair of large rings were moving around the platform as Lockdown brought Optimus to it. There multiple cages on the platform, with eight large ones. Seven of them already had Cybertornians imprisoned inside, hanging upside down. Bindings held their arms in place, preventing any chance of escape.

"Welcome to the Knight's Temenos, Prime." Lockdown said as he spread his servo out.

Optimus stared at the various cages. His optics locked onto the large Cybertronians that were imprisoned. After a moment he said in a despondent tone, "You have disgraced it."

"Hmph, so says the one who interacts with lesser beings." Lockdown said as he walked over to the only empty cage. "Now, you can join your fellow rebels, fugitive scum. It has taken me centuries, but I've collected all the knights. Except for you." Lockdown said as he opened the cage. He brought out his hook and roughly grabbed Optimus' leg with it. With a single pull, Lockdown moved the Prime towards the cage, where a large robotic claw grabbed the leg and hoisted Optimus up. Soon, he too was hanging upside down.

Lockdown continued speaking, "The Creators want to sweep their chessboard clean. To do away with those that have disrupted the Cosmic Balance, like you and your pathetic Autobots." Lockdown said.

"I am slave, to no one." Optimus said defiantly.

Almost amused, Lockdown let out a snort before sealing the cage. "We all work for someone, Optimus Prime. You've just forgotten what you were meant to do." Lockdown said before walking away.

 **(Chicago River)**

It had taken twenty minutes, but the Autobots managed to meet up on a bridge over the river. Right beside it was Lockdown's ship. Humans were already fleeing from the large vessel, as well as the giant robots that had just appeared. The only ones that had not fled were Cade, Shane and Tessa. The three of them were staring at the massive space ship in awe. The Autobots, however, had looks of nostalgia on their faces.

"What happened to the Depceticons?" Prowl asked Ironhide. The lieutenant was the only one who remained focus, and not on the ship.

"They fled a little bit before you contacted us. They left the Vehicon drones behind to cover their escape." Ironhide reported with a huff. He was really itching to bust up some Depceticons.

"It's been such a long time since I've seen a Cybertronian vessel this big before." Wheeljack muttered. The scientist/inventor had a faraway look in his optics.

"Well, that ship has Optimus and Adam imprisoned onboard. So that means we need to get in and find them." Prowl commented. He looked down at the humans. "You three stay here while we go find them."

Cade shook his head. "No way, that's not happening. I owe Prime for saving my family. This time, I save him. Plus, I'm not leaving Adam." The human inventor said sternly before making his way towards the ship. Shane and Tessa followed him, also determined to save the Autobot leader and young boy. Bumblebee helped them, carrying Tessa in his arm while the males held onto his back. Bumblebee fired a grappling hook from his arm, and reeled them up.

Prowl let out a sigh. "Follow their lead. We get in, and get out." The lieutenant said as he jumped onto the craft. Once he had a grip, Prowl began climbing.

Hound chewed his cigar. "It's a bad idea, but I'm all about bad ideas! Let's go!" The commando declared and grabbed onto the ship's tower.

Seeing this, the other Autobots hurried to the ship. Using his magnetic claw, Jazz latched onto the ship and followed Prowl. Like Bumblebee, Jolt used his whips to pull himself up. Sideswipe, Mirage and Drift were using their blades to climb to the top. Ratchet helped Wheeljack and Arcee to get onboard. Evac carried the mini-cons as he began his ascent. Cliffjumper did a jump and then grabbed the ship's outer wall, before scrambling upwards. Ironhide followed Hound's lead and grabbed a part of the tower too. Rubbing the back of his head, Crosshairs let out a sigh before joining the others. As they climbed, the ship began to rise, moving away from the bridge and over the buildings of Chicago.

It didn't take them long to reach the top of the ship. The roof's flat surface made it easier for the Autobots and humans to walk on it, while searching for a way in. They found one, an opening big enough for all of them. After confirming there were no guards, the Autobots went down one by one, while carrying the humans. What greeted them were long rows of what appeared to be cells of some sort, with eerie sounds coming behind them. The lack of light added to the uneasiness the ship's interior gave off.

"Feels like we entered the Pit." Cliffjumper mused as he looked around, referring to the Cybertronian's version of hell.

"It is rather unsettling." Jolt added. "And I don't even want to know what are in those cells."

Hound landed with a soft thud. He then pulled out his shotgun. "We're behind enemy lines now. Keep your optics opened."

"Easy on the trigger, Hound. You too, Ironhide." Prowl said to the Commando and Weapon Specialist. "We have no idea what Lockdown has in here, or the number of troops under his command. Initiating a conflict is not in our best interest right now."

"Prowl is right." Agree Drift. "The element of surprise is with us. Let's try to use violence as a last resort."

Suddenly a tentacle popped out of a cell, right in front of Drift. Some of the Autobots and the humans let out shouts of surprise. Drift immediately cut off the tentacle before thrusting his sword into the cell, stabbing the creature repeatedly. "Die! I kill you!" He shouted.

"Yeah, get it!" Crosshairs cheered.

"Well, there goes using violence as a last resort." Arcee muttered, crossing her arms.

"Is it dead?" Sideswipe asked as he retracted his blades.

"Yes, it's not alive anymore." Drift said, cleaning his swords of the creature's blood.

Crosshairs did a short spin. "Well, we looked. They're not here, let's go." He said with a shrug.

Cade seemed shock by Crosshairs' words. "Go? What do you mean go? We have to find Prime and Adam!" He exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, why should I risk my spark? Tell me, what's in it for me?" Crosshairs asked as he shoved a finger at Cade.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Tessa asked, angered by the Paratrooper's dismissal.

Suddenly, Ironhide wrapped a hand around Crosshairs' neck. The green mech let out a yelp as he was lifted up off the ground. Next, Hound raised his shotgun, pointing the barrel at Crosshairs' face. "O-okay you two. How about we use words here." Crosshairs choked.

"What's in it for you, is that we don't kill you." Hound snarled as he poked Crosshairs' face with his shotgun.

"We an't leaving until we save Prime and the boy, understand?" Ironhide asked threateningly before releasing Crosshairs.

The paratrooper grunted as he massaged his neck, feeling some of dented metal from Ironhide's grip. Giving a wary glance at the two taller mechs, he said, "Okay, that's very persuasive. I can take that."

"Now that that's done, let's focus on a way of finding them." Jazz said, walking up to the three mechs. "Wheeljack, do you think you can try downloading a schematic of this vessel?"

The inventor shook his head. "With its size, it would take me a while just to map a third of it." Wheeljack said.

CLANK!

A sound caught the Autobots' attention. They raised their weapons, scanning the area for where it came from. Bumblebee stood in front of the humans protectively, while the mini-cons stood next to Evac. "What was that?"

"Might be a guard. Or a security drone. Keep sharp." Jazz said, his shield blaster ready.

More noise began to resonate from the walls. It sounded like feet moving at a fast rate. And it was getting closer to the group with every step. The Autobots clenched their weapons tightly, the suspension making them nervous as they searched for the source of the noise. When Mirage turned his head towards Hound's direction, his optics widened. "Merda! Hound, behind you!" The spymaster shouted.

Spinning around, Hound let out a yelp as a silver object tackled him to the ground. An orange blur flew past the others as they raised their weapons. Before they could fire, Cade spoke up first. "Is that a dog?" He asked.

Indeed, standing on Hound's chest was what looked to be a Cybertronian bull dog. It had blue optics and engine pistons sticking out from its rear legs. Currently, the dog was happily licking Hound's face.

"I don't believe it…it's Steeljaw!" Sideswipe exclaimed, recognizing the Wreckers' mascot/tracker.

Hound, who was laughing as the oil was getting on his face from the licks, grabbed Steeljaw. "Okay, okay! Get off me, ya ferocious beast!" He chuckled as he put the cyber-dog on the ground before getting up. Steeljaw barked, his mouth smiling wide and his tongue sticking out.

"Wasn't he on the Ark with the Wreckers?" Arcee questioned. She approached Steeljaw and scratched behind his ears. This pleased the Cyber-dog who let out a woof.

A groan caught their attention. Turning around, they saw an orange mech getting up. He was around the same height as the humans, and had four fingers. His blue optics spun as he got up, rubbing his head. "Ow, I wish he'd tell me when he was going to jump like that." The mech muttered before noticing the Autobots. "Sweet Solus Prime! Cybertronians! Please tell me you're the friendly kind?" Asked the mech.

"That depends on who's asking." Prowl replied as he approached the smaller mech.

The mech did a salute. "The name is Fixit, sir. Crewmember aboard this ship, and caretaker of all artefacts recovered during the Knight's expedition. Or, I was until those mercenaries took over." The now named Fixit said.

"So, this is the vessel the Knights used to travel the stars." Prowl said, confirming his thoughts. "I thought it was odd that Lockdown was somehow able to have a ship this size."

"Knights? Is that some kind of group?" Shane asked.

"The Knights of Cybertron, as they were called, were an order of Cybertronian warriors that served the Thirteen Primes. When the Dynasty fell, the Knights either left the order or wandered the universe for the Primes." Ratchet began. "When Sentinel Prime unified the warring clans of Cybertron centuries later, he and the ancient librarian, Alpha Trion, recreated the order. Optimus himself was also a member too. The Knights were given a mission to travel the universe, as well as find artefacts of the Dynasty on distant worlds. This was their vessel they used to travel." The medic pointed to Evac. "Evac here, was the youngest Cybertronian to be granted knighthood before the war broke out."

"A few thousand years ago, we received a distress signal from Cybertron. But when we arrived, we were attacked by hundreds of drones, led by Lockdown and a Cybertronian named Shockwave. They killed most of the crew, including the captain, and took over the ship. The others fled, except for me, as by then, Lockdown had complete control and I couldn't find any way to escape." Fixit revealed.

Ironhide let out a grunt. "Shockwave, I had a feeling he had a hand in this." The Weapon Specialist grumbled.

"You've been here this whole time?" Cade asked Fixit.

"Yes. Fortunately, I still have some control over certain sections of ship. I also keep a map that gives me present day positions of guards, so I know where to go and not go." The orange mech explained.

"What about Steeljaw here?" Cliffjumper asked, pointing to the Cyber-dog. Steeljaw was currently greeting the three humans, very excited to meet new people. "How did you find him?"

"A few months ago, Lockdown's crew captured a ship on a red-colored planet. Before they could get inside, the ship activated its emergency protocol, and barred all access from the outside." Fixit explained. "The Cyber-dog here got out of the ship before that, and managed to slip by the guards. I happened to have come across him when I was investigating. We've been traveling ever since, trying to find a way out."

"The Ark is here?!" Arcee exclaimed, shocked to learn that her sisters have been in enemy hands all this time.

"Calm down, Arcee. From what Fixit is saying, it sounds like they're still in the Ark." Jazz said. "But that also complicates things too. Now, we have to save Optimus, Adam and the Ark." The saboteur explained.

"If you're planning on doing that, you might want to hurry." Commented Fixit. "I'm sure you've been hearing that noise for some time now. It's the ship's dark matter drive, preparing to take off."

"Take off, as in go into outer space?" Shane asked. He had been wondering what the humming sound was for a while. Now he knew. "So, you mean, this ship is about to leave Earth soon?"

"Yes, and dark matter drives are very powerful. Capable of going great distances." The orange mech explained.

"Fixit" Prowl began. "You said you have a map of the ship, and all current positions of sentient beings onboard, right? Could you help us find our friends and the Ark?"

Fixit nodded. "Of course, so long as it means I can get out of here." Said Fixit. He brought out a holographic map that showed a bird's eye view of the ship. "Two new lifeforms were brought on board recently. One was taken to the Knight's Temenos, where the last of the Knights are being held. The other was taken to the Relic Chamber. I can guide you there since it was my work station. The Ark is held at the lower hangars, a few levels down from here." Fixit explained.

"Optimus is probably being held at the Temenos, and Adam at the Relic Chamber." Ratchet explained.

"The chamber will be difficult for large Cybertronians such as yourselves. It's near the center of the ship, which is the most guarded." Fixit said. "However, the ventilation system connects to the armory that is right next to the chamber. I can guide you there, but only mini-cons around my size or smaller can fit through."

"Then it's decided" Declared Prowl. "I'll take Hound, Jolt, Evac, Bumblebee, Drift, and Crosshairs to find Prime. Jazz, you, Ironhide, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, Sideswipe, Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Steeljaw go free the Ark. The mini-cons and humans will save Adam."

However, Jolt brought up one problem. "But it's not like Lockdown will give us the time to find them, let alone get off the ship." The junior medic said. "We need some way to keep him here so we can escape."

"Actually" Fixit said, still looking at the holographic map. "If you take the path I sent you towards the Temenos, you'll pass the anchors. If you can find a way to activate them from there, it might buy us some time."

"Leave that to me." Crosshairs said, adjusting his goggles. "I know plenty about ships like this one to cause them some trouble."

Prowl nodded. "Okay, then let's get moving. We have a tight schedule here, so let's get this done!"

"You got it, Prowler! Let's move boys!" Jazz declared as he headed off to the right, followed by his group. The other groups went into the opposite directions. They all had their assignments, and were determined to do whatever they had too so they could all escape together.

 **(Ship Upper Hanger)**

Lockdown stood beside Hangnail, with two of his men standing behind them, plasma cannons at the ready. The mercenary watched as the human helicopter flew towards them. Several human jet fighters were flying all over the city, most likely keeping an eye on the Cybertronian ship hovering above it. Lockdown had given the order to the gunners not to fire. He didn't feel like staying on this primitive planet a second longer, and getting in a firefight would do just that.

Hangnail looked at his leader. "Still can't believe that we're just giving these fleshlings a Seed." He muttered.

"Believe me, I also find the idea revolting." Lockdown said in agreement. "But, a deal is a deal. And it's not like it will be in their hands for long."

The helicopter had finally landed, its rotor blades spinning slowly. Savoy and a few soldiers got out. One of them had a wide bag to put the Seed in. Giving a sign for his men to stay back, Lockdown approached the humans. Without so much as a greeting, the mercenary placed the seed down, the oval object standing upwards.

"This is the seed?" Savoy questioned, looking at the device behind his shades.

"Yes" Lockdown said. He watched with uncaring optics as the humans placed the Seed inside the bag. "As we agreed: One Seed, for one Prime. Though its none of my concern, I advised handling it with care. It can be quite…volatile."

Lockdown hid the amusement he felt when he detected several soldiers' heart rates speeding up. He looked down at Savoy. "I trust your kind will be responsible with it." The mercenary said.

Savoy smirked, as if amused by what the mercenary said. "Don't worry about our species." Was all James said as his men began walking back to the chopper.

Lockdown just snorted in disgust. He gave one last glance towards the humans and the chopper. Then he walked back to his men, saying one last sentence to the humans as the chopper took off. "Farewell… Earth."

 **(Lower Hanger)**

The lower part of the ship held the smaller aircrafts that Lockdown's crew used. This included the mercenary leader's dropship, as well as multiple Orbital Assault Carriers. Some had rear Gun Pods meant for smaller drones to use. And finally, in a separate part of the hangar, was the Ark, also known as Omega Supreme. The largest vessel there, isolated from the others, it remained silent as the seven guards in the hanger walked around, keeping an eye in case anything unexpected should happen.

Which did happen, though they were not prepared for it. In quick succession, two guards were killed via beheading by Mirage, who removed his cloaking tech. Two more guards were cut down by Sideswipe, who impaled them through their sparks. They died before they could make a noise. Then next two were dealt with by Ironhide and Jazz, the former tearing off the head of his target, while the latter blew the head off of his. The final guard was about to sound the alarm, but was killed when Cliffjumper rammed his energy blade through the guard's chest.

"It's all clear." Jazz said as he walked away from the guard's body. Coming through a corridor were the rest of the team, weapons out just in case. The group of nine quickly made their way over to the Ark. Wheeljack approached the vessel's main door, scanning the large Autobot's status.

"Hmm, looks like he's in emergency stasis lock. As I recall, large Cybertronians had a sensory scanner that when touched, would wake them up. Let's see…" Muttered Wheeljack as he pressed a few keys on the ship's lower hull.

The Ark suddenly began to shake in response, lights came on briefly before dimming a little. Soon, the ancient Cybertronian's voice boom across the hanger. "Identity confirmed: Wheeljack. Occupation: Autobot Inventor and Scientist. Opening main door." Omega Supreme said as he opened the large ramp for the Autobots to walk on. The group began making their way onto the Ark, while keeping their weapons raised.

The ship's interior was pitch black. But that changed when a few lights came on, giving the Autobots a better view of inside the Ark. The first thing they saw were the prone forms of Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Topspin, Chromia, Elita-1, Skids and Mudflap, lying on the floor. They were unmoving and yet had no damage on them. To the left side were several modified capsules, each one holding a hatchling.

"Mia!" Ironhide exclaimed as he ran to his mate. He gently picked her up, cradling her form to his chest. Arcee did the same as she put her hand under Elita's head. Steeljaw ran over to Leadfoot, whining as he tried to wake his owner.

Ratchet was with them immediately. He scanned all seven Cybertronians, taking in every bit of data he gathered as he checked over their forms. Wheeljack was heading towards the ship controls, checking the Ark's power. Mirage, Jazz, Sideswipe and Cliffjumper remained near the entrance, keeping their optics opened.

After three minutes, Ratchet spoke. "I can't find any damage on them, nor any other anomalies. They all seem to be in emergency stasis lock. My recommendation would be to prop them against the wall for now. Then I can better tend to them once we're in a safer location."

"What about the hatchlings." Jazz asked as he retracted his shield cannon.

"They're also in stasis lock." Answered Ratchet as he checked the capsules. "I remember designing these. They recycle used energy for emergency nourishment, though it seems like Omega used some of his own reserves to keep the hatchlings alive. We should leave them be for now."

"Speaking of Omega, I'm afraid he isn't going anywhere." Wheeljack said as he walked back to the group. "His efforts of keeping Lockdown's goons out, and keeping the hatchlings alive have left him nearly depleted of energon. Right now, he's on emergency reserves. Not enough for us to take off."

Omega spoke, "Recommendation: Transfer energon from dropship." The giant Cybertronian said. The Ark was currently situated so that the front window was facing said ship.

"Would that work?" Sideswipe asked as he looked at the smaller vessel.

"It could! Though its smaller than the Ark, the dropship's energon tanks will be enough for us to fly out of here. Then I can land Omega somewhere safe to do actual repairs." Replied Wheeljack.

"I recall seeing some empty energon cubes near the guard I killed." Cliffjumper suggested.

"Okay. Cliffjumper, help Wheeljack with transferring the energon over. Ratchet, stay here and look over the others. Arcee, Mirage, try and find a way to open the hangar doors. Ironhide, Sideswipe and I will remain on guard." Jazz ordered.

"Let's just hope that Prowl's team will be able to buy us sometime. Otherwise, none of us are getting out of here." Ratchet commented as he began tending to their unconscious comrades.

 **(Prowl's Team)**

The Optimus Rescue Team had been walking down a straight path for some time. During which, they had passed by dozens of cages, all of them filled with alien species of all kind. Some of them were less than friendly as the Autobots passed by them. The good news was that, excluding cleaner drones, they had yet to run into any guards. Either Lockdown was convinced no one could invade his vessel, or he did not have enough troops to guard the entire ship at once. Either way, it was convenient for them.

Currently, the group was standing before a large mainframe, which was basically two walls with lasers connecting them to one another. Crosshairs deduced that they were for transferring commands from the command center to that section of the ship. Said paratrooper was climbing between each wall, trying to find the anchors. The others were down below, waiting for him.

"Anything yet, Crosshairs?" Hound asked as he watched the mech climb up.

"Almost" Replied Crosshairs as he dodged the lasers. While technically not dangerous, the paratrooper rather not take the chance. "The switch to the anchors is near here."

"Better hurry" Drift commented. "It sounds like the ship could take off into space at any minute."

The paratrooper kept searching before letting out a, "Ah ha!" He reached for an exotic looking piece that was in the center of various wires converging towards it. With a simple pull, Crosshairs removed the piece from its place, grinning as the machine began making noises. "We're in business." He said.

Outside the ship, multiple anchors shot out towards a nearby skyscraper. They either wrapped around or went through the windows of the top floors. In a few seconds, the anchors had completely secured themselves to the building, holding the ship in place. The vessel jerked a little at the sudden pull.

"Well, that did it. The ship won't be going anywhere for a while." Crosshairs said proudly as he rejoined the others.

"Don't get too confident. Lockdown will surely know something is going on. Be ready for possible firefight." Prowl ordered as he took out his SMG.

"Ha! That's good for me. I've been itching to bring some hurt to these mercs." Hound said as he took out one of his assault rifles.

Prowl just shook his head at the commando's battle lust before heading off in the direction of the Temenos. The others followed close behind him.

 **(KSI Headquarters)**

Joshua was not happy, very unhappy. In fact, he was sure his veins were showing on top of his baldhead right now. And it was also because of the recent events. Currently, he was in the hangar, along with dozens of other personnel, such as mechanics who were checking on the two drones that just returned. Flight teams were also present, preparing to move the completed drones onto planes to be taken to China. Right now, he was with his main technician team, Darcy Tirrel standing behind him, while Su was overlooking the transportation of the drones. Joshua was currently ranting about Galvatron, and its less than stellar performance.

"B-but Mr. Joyce-"

"But nothing, Wembley! Galvatron was a total failure, and complete and utter failure! And in this business, we don't do failures!" Joshua exclaimed, while pointing to the grey truck. "Along with speaking, do you have any idea how much collateral damage it did?! And the number of injured bystanders it caused?! How the hell is that commercial friendly? Huh?!"

It wasn't just the damage Galvatron caused, but also what Adam did too. With all their data erased, they could not create new drones. As he told Attinger before, without that data, it didn't matter how much metal they had. It was all useless. Now, Joshua was starting to wonder if he should have even made this deal. It was costing his company millions of dollars, and one of their drones acted on its own, causing a large amount of damage. That, and uneasiness he was feeling from Attinger was only increasing. And it was not just because the man had forced Joshua to put his drones on the field before testing could be finished. Somehow, Joshua put the dots together that perhaps the military wasn't the one funding his company on this project, that it might just be Cemetery Wind. If that were the case, and Joshua honestly hoped it wasn't, he could be behind bars for a long, long time.

When his phone rang, Joshua violently pulled it out of his pocket. "Joyce" He almost growled.

It was Attinger. _"Don't sound so hostile, Joyce. We've struck gold."_

That did nothing to soothe the KSI head's anger. "Yeah, well that gold better be able to deal with the situation I have right now?!" Joshua's voice snapped, taking a moment to glare at the silver truck as it's computing systems were being checked by a mechanic. The semi-trailer appeared almost ominous for reasons he could not fathom. "Do you have any idea what this fiasco will cost me?"

" _Calm down Joshua-"_

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Attinger!" Joyce yelled, startling some nearby employees. "I invested my entire company, my entire life project, into this. Then you have it tested prematurely, and _I_ had to watch it all crash and burn in a single day! Have you even the slightest idea of how many months this will set me back, Attinger?! Millions of dollars, wasted!"

" _Millions of dollars mean nothing now! We have the Seed, the Holy Grail, and soon the entire world in our hands! With this, millions will be the same as having a single penny."_ Attinger exclaimed.

That made Joshua calm down actually, his rage forgotten. However, as he looked more at the unmoving Galvatron, still in its alt mode, a knot began to form in his stomach. And it was getting tighter. "So, you actually have the Seed now?" He asked tentatively.

" _James is bringing it to me as we speak."_ Replied Attinger. _"I've been notified that you're moving the drones. Where are you heading?"_

Joshua sighed. "I'm transferring the prototypes to our China facility. It's large enough for us to keep an eye on them."

That seemed to be alright with Attinger. _"Okay, we'll meet you there with the Seed. And don't worry Joyce. Nothing, nobody, can stop this achievement we've made today."_

As the connection ended, Joshua couldn't help but feel that this 'achievement' was going to bite him in the ass.

 **(Decepticon Base)**

"Blackout, what is the situation?" Shockwave demanded.

:The human insects have gained the Seed. They're heading towards the KSI facility in China: Reported Blackout.

"Just as I predicted. I'll have Stockade take his position. I will notify you when you may act." Said Shockwave. He then switched to another coms. "Fracture, what is your team's status?"

:Barricade took too much damage from the skirmish. He will need medical attention, perhaps an entire change in frame. The rest are fully active: Fracture said.

Shockwave nodded. "I'll have a Groundbridge up and bring him here for Flatline to look at. I am sending the Constructicons to reinforce you. Remain on standby for now until notified." He said. "Wreckage, when I give the command, you and Incinerator clean up Cemetery Wind. We no longer have any need of them."

:With pleasure, Shockwave.:

"Jetstorm, take Brawl to China to support Blackout and Stockade. I am also sending Dreadwing with Divebomb and Overcast to take a platoon of Vehicons too. Give air cover to our ground forces." Shockwave said through another communicator.

:Copy that: Jetstorm replied.

"Soundwave, send me confirmation of what you saw, and then prepare the virus to take over the KSI drones under Cemetery Wind's command." Shockwave ordered the communication officer.

:Understood. Preparing virus upload.:

"What about us?" A voice asked from behind.

Turning around, Shockwave looked to see a fully repaired Starscream. With him were the other members of his Seekers: Thundercracker, Skywarp, Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge and Sunstorm. They were all loaded and ready for action.

Shockwave's optic narrowed. "Your unit shall eliminate any military bases near the KSI China Headquarters. We cannot risk human interference this time." The scientist/assassin ordered.

Starscream seemed pleased with that. He and the other Seekers began heading out of the base to carry out their task.

Shockwave shook his head before directing his attention to an image of Lockdown's ship. He titled his head when he saw several of the ship's anchors shoot out. Millions of separate calculations ran through Shockwave's processors as he tried to deduce why such as thing happened.

 **(With Lockdown)**

"Who fired the anchors?!" Lockdown roared from the command chair. Lying around him were several cyber-wolves, growling in response to their master's fury. Below were his minions, the Cybertronian soldiers trying to give Lockdown an answer. Some were working at their respective consoles while others were issuing out orders to those of lower rank.

Just a few minutes ago, they had been preparing dark-matter drives for interstellar launch. Lockdown was more than eager to leave this pathetic world, and return with his cargo and get his bounty. But as fate would have it, an unforeseen event happened, the ship's anchors all fired at once, and latched onto a nearby human building. Now the ship was stuck, and they could not leave until those anchors were reeled back in or cut off.

A mercenary approached Lockdown. "We don't know sir! All controls to the anchors have been lost. Someone must've disabled the mainframe in that section of the ship." The mercenary reported.

Lockdown slammed his fist on the chair's armrest. This was clearly sabotage. Which meant that either a prisoner got loose or…the Autobots had come to save their leader. The mercenary activated his coms, the one that was for his crew only. "All security forces, we have intruders and/or prisoners loose. We're on lockdown until they are captured or terminated. Secure all sections of the ship, check every cell. I want fighters dispatched to patrol the outside of the ship. Hangnail, take command of the guards and find them."

:Copy that, Lockdown. I'm on it.: Hangnail replied.

Lockdown looked at his cyber-wolves. All of them were growling and salivating, just begging to be cut loose. Standing up, Lockdown pointed towards the interior of the ship. **"Hunt them down!"** He snarled in Cybertronian, the only language the wolves understood. With a howl, they took off, searching for their prey.

Lockdown would not allow anyone to leave this ship. Intruder or otherwise.

 **And there it is! Rescue mission is a go. Be sure to leave a review!**

 **Wacko12**


	10. Rescue Part 2

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. We'll be seeing some new faces in this chapter, so be sure to leave lots of reviews! The only problem I am having is the names of the Dinobots. I don't know if I should keep Strafe or name him Swoop.**

"Hi" Human's speaking

" _Hi" Humans talking through phones_

' _Hi' Thinking_

:Hi: Cybertronian communicators

" **Hi" Cybertronian Talking**

 **(Jazz's team)**

Even where they were standing, the Autobots could feel the brief shaking as the ship came to a sudden halt. Several of the flyers in the other part of the hanger slid a bit, but the Ark managed to remain in place. Jazz frowned as his optics shuddered, scanning the area for any signs of hostiles. Ratchet was still examining their unconscious comrades and the hatchling. Meanwhile, nearly all the energon from the dropship had been taken, and had been successfully transferred into Omega's tanks. Arcee was able to find the controls for the hanger doors and was ready to open them. The other Autobots were on guard, ready for anything.

"It looks like signore Prowl's team was successful in stalling the ship." Commented Mirage.

"Yeah, but that means that the guards will be scrambling all over the ship. We need to be gone before they get here." Jazz said as he walked inside the Ark. He saw Wheeljack at the control station, checking all the systems. "Wheeljack! What's the news?"

"Omega's systems are all operational. I managed to upload a jammer to block Lockdown's scanners. We can leave this place safely, Jazz." Wheeljack said happily.

Jazz nodded. "Everyone get on board! Arcee, open the doors now!" He ordered.

Cliffjumper and Sideswipe were the first to board, followed by Mirage. Ironhide stayed on look out while Arcee activated the hanger doors. The circular hatch on the floor began to open, revealing the city below. Wheeljack activated the engines, and the Ark came to life. The thrusters flared as Ironhide and Arcee boarded. Once they were on the ramp closed as Omega floated. The Autobot inventor took control and had the ship move through the doors. The Ark was now out of Lockdown's ship.

"Success, we've gotten out!" Wheeljack declared. The others cheered and Steeljaw barked in joy.

"Ha! Take that slaggers!" Cliffjumper declared as he watched the larger ship from a turret cockpit.

"Prowl! We've gotten the Ark out of the ship, crew and all!" Jazz said through the coms. "We'll make contact as soon as we land." There was no response from the other end, though. "Slag, Lockdown must have the ship shielded. Can't contact the others." The saboteur said.

"I think we should focus on getting out of the city before we're spotted. Omega is invisible from scanners but not from optics." Ratchet said as he stopped his examination of the hatchlings.

Arcee than asked, "Yeah, but where are we going to go? It's not like we can just find a safe spot to land automatically."

Suddenly a loud thump from above caught their attention. The Autobots were startled as some brought out their weapons. "What was that?" Ironhide asked.

No one answered, focusing their receptors towards the sound of something walking on the Ark's roof. Whatever it was, it was nearing the forward cockpit. Ironhide took the front, with Sideswipes beside him. They had their weapons out, ready in case the thing turned out to be hostile. A few seconds past and the noise stopped, and the Autobots thought that whatever it was had disappeared. However, it was cut short when something appeared right in front of them, causing some of the Autobots to gasp as they saw what, or rather who, it was.

 **(Adam's Rescue Team)**

The group of three humans and two mini-cons were walking through the ventilation system. They had done several turns while following Fixit. The mech had a holographic projection of the ship's layout in front of him, using it to guide him. "Not much farther now. Just two more turns and we'll reach the armory. From there we can access the Relic Chamber." The orange mech said.

"We might even be able to requisition some weapons that we can use. So long as its our size." Rewind commented. He had his laser cannon out, ready for any possible attacks.

Cade added, "Alien weapons we can use? Yeah, I'm down with that."

"Why does a robot ship even have a ventilation system?" Shane asked suddenly. "I mean, you guys don't need air, right?"

"True, but sometimes a large amount of space dust can gather inside the ship after long periods of time. The dust might clog up our systems and joints, so the system helps clear out the dust, so we don't have to worry about that." Fixit explained. "When Lockdown took over, it served also to make sure his organic prisoners had air to breathe in."

Tessa looked at the smooth walls around them, feeling a bit intimidated by their size. "What was that noise before? It sounded like something hit the ship." She said.

"Most likely the Autobots were able to fire the anchors. That gives us time to find your friends and escape before we enter space." Fixit answered. "However, the mercenaries have most likely put the ship in lockdown. Protocols dictate that the designated captain has access to all doors and outside communications are blocked. Plus, any coms network not part of the ship is jammed. Our mobility has been greatly reduced."

"That means we need to move quickly and find Adam." Cade said.

A minute later the group came upon a ventilation cover. "And here we are." Fixit said as he turned off his map. He and Rewind worked together to move it without making noise. Once they carefully placed the cover to the side, the group walked out into a large room.

The room itself was a cove-like den of the ship. In the middle of the den contained a circular platform that was built into the floor, and had six or seven swords stuck point down into the floor. They were about twice as big as the humans were. And to the left and right of those swords were standing figurines of Cybertronian Knights. They had their own swords, points down into the earth as well, and their hands resting on the hilts. Figurines were cold and dead, staring away like statues did, and yet holding the attention of the humans as they marveled. Wires and cables littered the floor, some taller and thicker than any of them, and required climbing over them as if they were fallen logs. Behind the platform sat a bigger figure, this time a wall of silver colored steel gleaming behind him.

"Welcome to the Primus Armory." Fixit said to the stunned humans and Rewind. "While the ship has many armories, this one was named after our god and creator, Primus. It was done so as this armory contains weapons for Cybertronians of all size, including Mini-cons. That is to show that no matter what your function, alt mode, or size is, all of us are equal in the eyes of Primus, and we thus fight as one." The orange mech.

"Amazing." Tessa said, but whether it was at Fixit's explanation or the armory itself, was not clear.

While Fixit was searching for the door that connected to the Relic Chambers, the others were still gazing at the armory. Cade approached the platform center, eyes looking at the sword standing in the center intently. Climbing on top of the pedestal, he reached one arm out slowly and grabbed it. When Cade tried to pull it out, it triggered mechanism that was linked to the very workings of the room. Instantly the room came alive around them. The figures split into different parts and began folding in on themselves, burying into the floor. The walls behind them split also and began to convert down, as if a door had been released and exposed an inside chamber. The walls, no, cases, bore an array of hand held weapons, consisting of guns and swords of any type one could imagine. Some were very large, while others were the size that a human could hold them.

"Holy shit…" Cade muttered as he stared at the many weapons now visible. A small-sized sword looking dagger caught his attention. Cade gave the backpack he had on his shoulder to Tessa, who took it. Then, he made his way over, and very carefully, used both hands to pick it up. Despite it being one of the smaller weapons, the dagger was still big enough that Cade held it as it was a rifle. "This" Cade began as he looked at the others. "Is freaking wicked."

"Dad, you're not really going to try and use that thing, are you?" Tessa asked in an exasperated tone. She got no response as her father continued to examine the weapon.

A noise caught their attention. Turning around, they saw Fixit standing next to a large door that was opening. It revealed a short hallway that led to another room. "I found the Relic Chamber, let's get a move on and find this human child." Fixit said to the others, before spotting the weapon in Cade's hand. "Oh, that's a gun-blade. Good choice."

"Gun-blade?" Cade asked as Tessa, Shane and Rewind hurried through the door.

"Yeah, just press this button and," Fixit began as he pressed a switch in the center of the guard. Suddenly, the dagger's blade split down the middle all the way. It stopped before it reached the sword's guard, and revealed what appeared to be a gun barrel in the middle of the blades. "See, you can also either end of the guard as the triggers to fire. Despite its size, this weapon has enough firepower to blast a full-size Cybertronian's leg off with one or two hits. The blades also make it useful to melee combat." Explained Fixit as if it was nothing special.

Cade, however, was even more in awe of the weapon than before. "Wicked" was all he said as he and Fixit went to join up with the others in the Relic Chamber.

If the armory was able to amaze the humans, then the chamber left them completely frozen in awe. The chamber was larger than the armory, and had rows of large shelves within, like bookcases found in a library. Each shelf was full of different items, all of them put into special containers. In front of each container were holographic Cybertronian letters, identifying what each item was, as well as where and when they were found, and what they could do. The containers also gave off a glow that covered the items they held, illuminating them in a divine way. More figurines of Cybertronian warriors were also in the chamber, each one on the ends of the shelves and the walls.

"Millennia of exploring the universe. Searching for remnants of our past. They're all gathered here." Fixit said as he spread his arms out.

"Unbelievable" Shane muttered as he looked at each item. Who knows what kind of story they had, these objects. "But where do we even begin to look?"

"If your friend, Adam, is here, then he would most likely be held in the further shelves, where more recent objects are placed." Explained Fixit as he began walking down the rows. The others quickly followed after him. As they moved, they saw that the items being held were less Cybertronian in origins, and instead appeared to originate from other species. Some of them were less than pleasant to look at. They realized that these were trophies that Lockdown had acquired after his takeover of the ship.

Eventually, they reached the final row, which had fewer items on the shelves. Fixit walked up to a small keyboard next to the shelves, bringing up a holographic screen. He pressed a few seconds, the shelves began to shift. One of the higher ones moved the most, a part of it disconnecting from the shelf, hovering in the air. It began to descend, it revealed a container that was twice the size of a human on it. When it reached the bottom, the group gathered around and saw Adam inside. The inside of the container was glowing blue, which was keeping the young boy afloat. Fixit pressed a few more buttons, and the light disappeared, and the container opened. With nothing keeping his body afloat, Adam fell forward, but was quickly caught by Cade. Everyone gathered around Adam's unmoving form. His skin was rather pale, and he was unconsciously shivering. Shane took off his coat and put it around Adam, trying to keep him warm.

Light shined from Fixit's optics as he scanned Adam's body. "Heart and pulse are normal. No signs of internal or external injuries, nothing fatal anyway. He is probably suffering from the container's cryo-stasis. Give him a few breems and he'll be fine, hungry though." The orange mech explained.

Cade immediately put Adam on Shane's back, the Irish young man placing his hands under the boy's legs. Adam's arms were draped around Shane's neck. "Okay, we got Adam. Let's get back to the others."

The group began making their way towards the ventilation shaft. They had just walked through the small hallway when they came face to face with a patrol. It consisted of a spherical shape security drone, several Cleaner Drones, with their dumb-looking faces, and finally of three Cybertronian mercenaries, wielding plasma rifles. The two groups stared at one another in silence, both not expecting to see the other. It was Fixit who broke the silence. "Well, scrap"

" **Lockdown we found-"** One of the mercenaries tried to contact Lockdown, but was shot in the chest by Rewind, who followed it up with a hit to the head, blowing the mercenary's face off.

The drones brought out their machine guns, firing at the mini-cons and humans. The two remaining mercenaries raised their rifles and joined in. The group was forced to take cover behind the pedestal, while Rewind and Cade fired their own weapons, taking down several drones in the process. Cade even managed to hit another mercenary in the leg, forcing him to his knees. The Cybertronian was finished off by a shot to the face.

As Fixit tried to avoid the bullets, his optics saw that the ventilation entrance was closing. "Frag! The lockdown system is closing our exit!" He yelled to the others.

"Fixit, take Adam! Get moving, we'll cover you!" Yelled Cade as he and Rewind continued shooting. The remaining mercenary and drones fired back. Dodging the bullets and plasma, the group made a dash towards, Fixit, Shane and Tessa at the front, while Rewind and Cade covered them. However, a shot from the mercenary made Shane lose his footing and fell, making Tessa trip over him. Rewind saw this, and since he couldn't stop his run, was forced to jump over them. He bumped into Fixit, and both Mini-cons and Adam fell into the ventilation, just as the cover came down completely, barring the humans from entering. Fortunately, Cade was able to shoot down the last mercenary, as well as the remaining security drones. The last two cleaner drones, clearly seeing their comrades killed, ran off, screaming.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Cursed Shane. He and Tessa got back up and the two were banging on the solid metal wall that denied them entry into the ventilation. But, no matter what they did, they could not make it budge.

Fixit's voice, though, managed to make it through the cover. "Humans! Listen to me! If you walk out the armory's entrance and make a right, then a left, you should see another ground-level entrance into the ventilation shaft." Fixit said. "It should help you get to the Temenos."

Cade nodded, strapping the blade-gun over his shoulder with his side bag. "Okay, we'll meet you there. You two just make sure to protect Adam!" Cade said as he took the lead, Shane and Tessa behind him. The mini-cons also began moving through the shaft, with Fixit carrying Adam while Rewind kept his cannon out.

 **(Prowl's Group)**

As Prowl had predicted, Lockdown did indeed send out patrols to survey that section of the ship. The Autobots had already ran into three separate groups. Fortunately, they were able to terminate the patrol groups before they could get word back to Lockdown. The moment their position was compromised, as Prowl believed, the Autobots would be swarmed by mercenaries and drones.

As they walked down a hallway, Prowl, who was at the front, spoke to Drift. "Any word from the other groups?" The lieutenant asked.

The samurai bot shook his head. "Nothing, and I cannot open their coms either." Replied Drift.

"Probably Lockdown's doing. He's jamming our transmissions, so we can't communicate with one another." Hound commented from his spot in the back.

"In other words, we can't know how the others are doing." Summarized Evac.

"We just need to have faith in them. That's all we can do." Prowl said as they continued walking.

Snorting, Crosshairs said, "Yeah, faith. Like how we put our faith in the humans. Look where that got us." His comment earned him a smack to the head from an aggravated Bumblebee. "Watch it, you"

"Quiet" Prowl said, raising a hand. The group came to a halt to an observation that was overlooking a floor below. On the lower floor were twelve mercenaries, plus Hangnail. They were standing guard in front of a large circular door. The second-in-command was currently discussing something with Lockdown over the coms.

The Autobots hid behind some cover as they looked at the mercenaries. Hound stared at the large door, then the guards. "With that many guards, it has to be the Temenos where the boss is being held." Commented the commando.

"Agreed. However, with that many, we won't be able to take them out in time to prevent them from calling back-up." Prowl said. He looked at Jolt. "Do you think you could release an electromagnetic pulse to short-circuit their transmitters? Long enough for us to deal with them?" He asked the junior medic.

"I can, but I won't be able to move while doing so. And the range I can make won't be that great." Jolt replied.

"Fine, the rest of us will engage them. Wait for my signal." Prowl ordered as he looked at Hangnail, waiting for the mercenary to continue his conversation.

"A team is with me in front of the Temenos. If by some chance the Autobots get here, we'll be ready for them." Hangnail said.

:Good, we can't risk losing Prime. So far we're not having any luck in deactivating the anchors, so I've dispatched teams to remove them manually. By my calculations, we'll be leaving in a few minutes. Contact me if anything important occurs.: Ordered Lockdown.

"Understood, sir. Hangnail, out." The mercenary said as he ended the transmission. But, seconds later a powerful electric bolt struck him and the other mercenaries. It released a powerful pulse of electricity, disrupting their processors for a moment, leaving them stunned.

"Now!" Prowl yelled as he took out his sub-machine gun. He opened fire and managed to kill a guard, blowing the mercenary's head off with a barrage of neutron bullets. Hound followed suit and opened fire with his triple-barrel minigun, mowing down two more mercenaries. The rest of the Autobots followed suit and unleashed their weapons. By then, the remaining mercenaries recovered and fired back.

"Lockdown! We're being engaged by Autobots! Requesting back-up!" Hangnail shouted, only to get static. "Slag, that pulse must've disabled the coms." He cursed as he fired his photon rifle at the Autobots. Turning towards the other mercenaries, he ordered, **"Cover me while I try to reestablish contact with Lockdown!"** As he moved away from the Temenos door and somewhere safer. If he could just fix his coms in time, Hangnail would be able to call for reinforcements.

"Oh no you don't!" Evac shouted as he charged towards Hangnail, firing his wrist blasters. The blue mech had spotted Hangnail retreating and immediately came upon him. The mercenary tried to fire his rifle, but Evac kicked it away before delivering a punch to Hangnail's face, chipping some metal off too.

Hangnail spit out some Energon and glared at Evac. "The last two times I didn't have the time to waste with you" He said as he brought out a pair of brass knuckles. "But this time, I'm going to offline you for sure!"

"Just try it, you piece of scrap." Evac said as he fired again.

Hangnail dodged the plasma bolts and charged Evac. The young Knight delivered a right punch, but the mercenary avoided it before driving one of his knucklers into Evac's right knee. Grunting, Evac grabbed Hangnail's left arm and twisted it. Hangnail let out a roar of pain, then did a spin, freeing his arm while kicking Evac in the face. The blue mech stumbled backwards a bit from the impact, allowing Hangnail to charge him and try and ram his fists into Evac's chest. But, Evac dodged the attempt and swung another fist at Hangnail. This time, he struck the mercenary, and delivered several more punches. Combining his blaster fire with his punches, Evac shot off small bits of Hangnail's armor off with each blow.

Hangnail became disoriented as he felt each blow, and yet the mercenary knew he had to counter somehow. So, when Evac went in to deliver another punch, Hangnail stepped to the side, then grabbed Evac's arm. Gripping it hard enough that it left dents in the arm, He followed it up by throwing the younger mech to the wall, earning a loud grunt from the junior knight, who landed on his rear. Evac's processors were disoriented from the sudden action, giving Hangnail an opening to end the Autobot's life.

His processors getting back in order, Evac saw Hangnail rushing at him, fists posed to strike. Thinking quickly, Evac spotted Hangnail's discarded photon rifle beside him. Picking the weapon up, the blue mech aimed it at the mercenary just as Hangnail was above him. Pointing straight at Hangnail's chest, Evac fired three shots at point blank range. The cybertronian mercenary gasped in shock as he felt photon bolts melt through his armor. Stumbling backwards, Hangnail tried to cover the chest wound, his pain receptors flaring like never before. That gave Evac the opening he needed. Bringing both hands together, he brought them down as a brutal blow to Hangnail, destroying the mercenary's entire head in one hit. Energon poured out like a fountain as the lifeless body fell backwards to the ground, ending the fight.

Evac let out a long sigh as he stared at his now dead opponent. He almost collapsed from exhaustion, but was thankfully grabbed by Prowl, who had his hand gently holding Evac's arm. "You okay, Evac?" Asked the lieutenant.

"I'm good" Replied Evac, as he got back up. The two regrouped with the others, who had already disposed of the remaining mercenaries. Currently, Drift was using his swords to forcefully open the door.

"Jolt, check on Evac." Prowl ordered.

The junior medic nodded as he ran over to Evac. While he was scanning Evac's condition, Prowl looked at Drift. "Well?" He asked the samurai bot.

"I almost got it." Grunted Drift as he finally opened the door. "There!"

"Big boy, coming through! Move, move!" Hound shouted as he took point, followed by Drift, Prowl, Bumblebee, Jolt and Evac. Crosshairs covered the rear as the group entered the Temenos. The first thing they saw were the several cages in the center of the room.

"Lot of cages in here." Commented Drift as he stared at them from a distance.

"Oh yeah, creepy critters in here." Added Hound.

"This was a sacred chamber once. It only makes sense that Lockdown would use it to hold his most prize captures." Prowl said as he looked around.

"Yeah well" Crosshairs muttered as he looked at the larger ones. "I don't want to even know what's in them."

"A lot of the big ones are in stasis." Jolt mused as he stared at the large Cybertronians.

Movement from a smaller cage caught Hound's attention. "Huh, what's this? An't Cybertronian." He muttered as he got closer.

"Oh, Hound. I don't think that's a good idea." Crosshairs advised.

Hound let out a snort as he lowered his head to see the creature. It was a small, white-skinned alien, with four pincer-like legs that converged onto a single body. In the center of the body was a mouth with rows of sharp teeth. Shuddering, Hound said, "Oh, that's just festering ugliness."

As if understanding what Hound said, the alien spat out a glob of green goo right into the mech's face. The commando yelled as he covered his face, startling the other Autobots. "Ah, I'm hit! I'm dying!" Hound cried as he rolled on the floor. "I think it's acid!" But after realizing that nothing was happening, the green mech looked at the goo before reeling in disgust. "Ugh, it's just shizzle."

"That's nasty" Brains said as he waved his hand, blocking is noseplates from the smell. He and Wheelie had crawled out of Evac's chest compartment after the fighting was done.

"I hope that's not contagious." Crosshairs commented.

After wiping the goo off, Hound glared at the creature. "I got to hurt ya now. You're just too disturbing to live." He said as he brought out his Quad-Barrel Plasma Shotguns. "Take that, bitch!" And fired a single round that hit the alien dead center. "Boom! You're dead."

"If you're all done playing around, let's look for Prime. He has to be in one of these cages." Prowl said.

"Prowl!" A voice shouted, catching the lieutenant's audio receptors.

"Prime!" Prowl shouted back as he followed the voice. He soon found Optimus' cage, with said mech dangling upside down.

"He's alive!" Hound roared as he got up from the floor. The others followed behind him.

"Hang on boss! We're coming!" Crosshairs said as Drift forced the cage door open.

Optimus watched with relief as his comrades were okay. But, he soon got to the issue at hand. "The Ark! It's here! We need to free it and Adam." Said Optimus.

"We already have a team on it, sir. Drift cut those restraints down." Prowl said.

"Hold on sensei." Drift said as he attacked the restraints.

"We can escape from here! The arms of this Knight Ship detached. It's a separate ship!" Optimus said as he got down.

"Where's the cockpit? Right or left?" Hound asked as he picked up his weapons.

"To the right!" Optimus replied.

"Okay. I'm on it, boss." Hound said as he ran towards the cockpit.

The sound of small footsteps caught the Autobots' attention. Running inside the chamber were Rewind and Fixit, the latter carrying Adam on his back. "Adam!" Evac shouted as he bent down. He took the boy from the orange mech.

Optimus looked at Fixit. "Who's this?" He asked Prowl.

"His name is Fixit. He's a survivor of the ship's original crew. He helped us find you, Adam and the Ark." Prowl explained.

"Hey, where're the three humans that were with ya?" Crosshairs asked when he didn't see Cade, Tessa and Shane.

"We got separated when a patrol found us. Fixit directed them to another ventilation shaft, but apparently they made a wrong turn somewhere and are now heading towards the anchors." Reported Rewind.

"Bumblebee! Crosshairs! Find them. We can't leave them behind." Optimus ordered.

The yellow mech nodded as he ran out of the chamber. Crosshairs seemed reluctant. But a glare from his leader got the paratrooper moving. "There should be a small, rear hanger near them. They might have Assault Carriers there!" Fixit shouted.

 **(With the Humans)**

"I knew we should've turn left instead of right." Shane said as he looked at their current predicament.

The three had managed to find the ventilation entrance that Fixit had mentioned, and had been running through it for some time. However, instead of getting to the Temenos, they had instead ended up outside, right where the anchors were. The cables extended from the ship all the way towards the large building. The older Yeager noted that they made a sort of bridge almost.

"Well, no where to go now but forward." Said Cade.

Tessa knew what her father was planning and immediately voiced her objection. "Oh, no. I am not doing that."

"We can't go turn around, just risk of even getting more lost." Cade said as he tested the cables. "They're stable, see. All we have to do is walk across them and reach the building."

The younger Yeager still did not seem thoroughly convinced, but followed anyway. Shane helped Tessa down and moved behind her. The next few minutes were spent with steady walking on the cables. They made sure to grip other cables to ease their balance, as well as not be pushed by the strong air current. By then they had made it halfway towards the building.

"The cables getting thinner." Noted Shane as he and Cade were ahead of Tessa. The girl was clearly uncomfortable of being so high up. It only got worse when jet fighters flew by, unintentionally shaking the cables.

Eventually, Tessa's fear won over. "Okay, this is crazy! I am freaking out here!" She shouted.

"Tessa. Calm down, okay sweetie. You need to keep moving." Said Cade, trying to encourage his daughter.

But Tessa absolute refused. "I am not moving! I am going back to the ship!" She declared as she tried moving back.

Cade said, "You can't go back to the ship, honey. We've already made it halfway."

"Oh yeah? Watch me." Tessa replied as she crawled backwards.

Getting annoyed, Cade said firmly, "You are not eighteen-years old yet. So, you're going to do what I say. Now let's go!"

His eyes widened in horror when he saw something behind Tessa. Coming out of the ship were several cyber-wolves. They were all drooling as they glared at the three humans. Two of them began skillfully walking on the cables. Tessa remain oblivious to them.

Getting scared, Cade said, "Okay, honey. You really need to come this way." He looked at Shane. "Hey, Romeo. Talk to her."

"Tessa, this isn't really the time for this." Shane said, also seeing the wolves too.

Tessa, still not aware of the danger, glared at her boyfriend. "Do not start with me." She warned, before letting out a gasp when she felt the cable she was on beginning to shake. "What the hell was that?"

"Just, just don't turn around, okay Tessa?" Cade pleaded, watching as the cyber-wolves got closer.

"Don't say that Dad, because now I want to turn around." Tessa said, her fear growing.

Trying to dismiss the current crisis, Cade added, "It's nothing major, sweetheart."

"Well then it's totally major!" Tessa shot back.

By then, the cyber-wolves were almost near them. Seeing this, Cade prepared to use the gun-blade. "Sweetie, listen. I'm going to point this in your direction, so I need you to get down." He said.

"Are you trying to kill me or something?!" Tessa yelled as she heard the wolves barking.

"Tessa, just get down!" Shane yelled as he gripped the cables.

The girl lowered her head as Cade opened fire on the wolves. The first wolf got hit in the face and was knocked off the cables. The second wolf was hit and tried to hold onto the cables. But its gripped slackened and soon followed its comrade. Seeing this, the other cyber-wolves began to chew on the cables. One by one the cables broke, causing the humans to scream as they realized what was happening.

"This is not good!" Shane yelled as he held on tight.

"Hang on! Hang on!" Cade yelled as he tried to reach Tessa.

As the wolves were halfway through, one of them got blasted off the ship. Jumping down was Bumblebee, battle mask on. A second cyber-wolf pounced on Bumblebee and tried to claw his face. A third one was still chewing on the last few cables. The yellow mech grabbed the cyber-wolf and ripped it in half. He then shot the last one in the face, killing the wolf. However, by then the cables came apart on their own, resulting in the humans losing their footing and now falling. Acting quickly Bumblebee grabbed the cable, and swung towards the three humans. Playing, _"AAAAAAAAAA"_ from Tarzan, Bumblebee grabbed Tessa, Cade and Shane in his arms before shielding them as he hit the glass building. Using his other hand, Bumblebee slowed his descent until he came to a stop, glass and furniture falling from the building.

After a minute of screaming, the humans realized that they were not large messes on the ground. Soon, Cade began laughing hysterically, filled with relief. "Hahaha! You're the best, Bee. You are the best!" He shouted.

" _You damn right! And don't ever forget it!"_ Replied Bumblebee as Cade hugged Shane and Tessa.

"Bumblebee! Bumblebee!" Crosshairs shouted. The paratrooper had managed to commandeer an assault carrier, one with a gun pod, and was heading towards the yellow mech. "Hurry up and get on! We got hostiles coming in hot!"

Quickly, Bumblebee helped the humans into the gun pod before jumping onto the fighter. Just in time as six more fighters had arrived, piloted by mercenaries. The pilots spotted them and headed straight towards the Autobots and humans. Crosshairs immediately charged up the engines "Hold your pants, folks, because I'm punching it!" The paratrooper yelled and took off, with the mercenaries right behind him.

What happened next was an aerial chase throughout Chicago. The fighters fired their plasma guns at the Autobots, hitting buildings along the way. Maneuvering was difficult for both Crosshairs and the mercenaries, due to the tightly fit buildings around them. It was harder for the paratrooper as he couldn't find a good spot to turn around and shoot back. The situation got worse when six more assault carriers appeared, two joining the ones from behind, and four coming from the front and flying towards Crosshairs, trying to cage them in. "Scrap! Hang on back there, this is going to get ugly." Shouted the paratrooper.

But suddenly, two fighters at the front were shot down by several rockets. The rockets hit their thrusters and the cockpits, setting them on fire. Another pair of rockets struck the last two assault carriers from behind, sending them spinning downwards in flames. "Whoa, what the hell was that?" Shane shouted.

:Look like you guys could use a hand: A voice said through Crosshairs and Bumblebee's coms. That's when a Fighting Falcon flew by, followed by a Hornet and a Lightning II. The Autobot symbol could be seen on their wings.

:Well I'll be rusted metal! Silverbolt, that you?: Crosshairs yelled as he watched three of the assault carriers fly off after the jets.

:Air Raid, Breakaway and I will keep as many of these mercs off your back. Just focus on getting out of the city. We're transmitting coordinates of where to meet up.: Silverbolt, the Fighting Falcon said as he took off in one direction. Air Raid, the Hornet, and the Lightning II, Breakaway, also split up too, each followed by a single assault carrier.

:Thanks Aerialbots! We owe ya one!: Replied Crosshairs as he continued flying through the city, stilled pursued by the three remaining fighters.

"Flying Autobots! Hell yeah! Finally, some air power!" Cade cheered as he watched the Aerialbots fend off other fighters. He had to duck, though, when a plasma bolt nearly hit him.

"Don't get too happy, we still got some of those slaggers on us!" Crosshairs shouted as he flew over the Chicago River. "Bee, don't sit on your aft. Take them out!"

Chirping, Bumblebee activated his grappling hook. Taking aim, the yellow mech fired it at a freight boat. Once he had a secure hold, Bumblebee pulled his arm back and pulled the boat into the air. An assault carrier wasn't able to get out of the way and crashed into the boat, exploding into flames.

"Nice one, Bee!" Shouted Cade.

Crosshairs did a turn and prepared his own counter. "This ones for you, aft-holes!" He yelled as he fired two rockets towards an oncoming raised bridge.

The rockets struck the bridge just as Crosshairs flew underneath it. The now destroyed bridge fell down, right in front of the two assault carriers. The pilots could do nothing as their ships were struck with debris and sent crashing into the river.

The two Autobots and humans were given a brief respite until Silverbolt contacted them. :Crosshairs, we've take out most of the fighters. But Breakaway spotted three more heading straight towards you!:

Sure enough, three more assault carriers appeared, opening fire on the Autobot fighter. Crosshairs dived back into the city, but had little luck in losing these three was proving difficult. They were very stubborn on killing them, and Crosshairs was getting annoyed.

"Ah, I'm sick of this slag!" Shouted Crosshairs as he grabbed Bumblebee. "You fly" The yellow mech let out a yelp as he was thrown into the pilot seat. "I shoot!" Crosshairs growled.

Looking down at the humans, Crosshairs began speaking. "Alright, crash course! Tracer guns; punch forward to fire, pull back to reload!" He explained.

Cade was clearly confused, "Whoa-whoa, what are you talking about?!" He asked.

"Punch, hold, slide, repeat! PUNCH, HOLD, SLIDE, REPEAT!" Shouted Crosshairs.

That didn't really seem to help. "I don't get it. Do you get what he means?" Cade asked Shane.

"N-no idea." Replied Shane.

"Okay then, good luck!" Crosshairs said as he gave them a two-finger salute.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Demanded Cade as Crosshairs pulled down his goggles.

Crosshairs got in a starting position. "To lay some hate" And the did a forward flip, jumping off the fighter. He then activated his hidden parachutes, keeping him afloat in the air as the mercenary fighters flew right at him. Quickly pulling out his machine pistols, Crosshairs opened fire on two of the assault carriers, the pilot seats to be exact. The fighters were soon set aflame and falling, going by a laughing Crosshairs.

Back with Bumblebee, the yellow mech had managed to take control of the assault carrier, and was now flying through the city. Behind him was a single fighter, firing plasma rounds at them. Fortunately, Cade and Shane managed to figure out what Crosshairs were going on about. Soon they returned fire on the mercenary fighter. Unprepared, the pursuing assault carrier's thrusters were destroyed, along with a cannon. It soon crashed into a building. Five more assault carriers appeared, but now the humans were shooting back. And, flying behind the fighters was Breakaway.

"Whoo! Alright!" Shane cheered as they shot down another fighter.

"These alien guns kick ass!" Added Cade as they pulled back to reload before resuming to shoot.

Breakaway opened fire on the assault carrier. He managed to shoot down two of the assault carriers. Flying closer to the third one, Breakaway transformed, smashed his fist into the cockpit and threw the pilot out. He then transformed back into his alt mode, but had to pull back when Bumblebee flew under a flyover. Bumblebee saw the Aerialbot flying alongside them, trying to follow them. The yellow mech realized that maybe flying underneath the flyover was probably not the best idea as it was hard to move. The same was for the mercenary fighters. One had gone to low and skidded against the pavement, with its pilot losing control before crashing, the fighter's remains rolling across down the street.

The last one managed to fire a rocket just as Cade and Shane shot it down. The rocket hit one of their thrusters, sending the Autobots and humans skidding across the ground. Bumblebee was forced to pull up, which unintentionally caused the fighter to crash through the street above. Seeing this, Breakaway flew upwards to survey the damage. The assault carrier broke apart, more specifically the gun pod was sent flying from the main body. The surrounding humans all began running away in shock and terror. Transforming, Breakaway approached Bumblebee. "You okay, Bee?" The Aerialbot asked the yellow mech.

Giving a nod, Bumblebee accepted a hand from the larger mech, who pulled him out of the destroyed carrier. Breakaway's com came to life as Air Raid spoke through it. :Breakaway, what happened? I saw the assault carrier crash.:

"It's all good, Air Raid. Bumblebee is still in one piece. As for the humans." Breakaway paused as he looked towards where said beings were. His optics saw the scene of Cade yelling at a man whose car the gun pod had landed on. The elder Yeager had the gun-blade in his hand as he continued shouting towards the person who was now running away.

"Insurance my ass! It's a freaking alien space ship asshole!" Cade yelled.

"They're okay. I'll escort them to the rendezvous. What's going on your end?" Asked Breakaway.

:I just picked up Crosshairs. We've finished taking out any fighters out here. Silverbolt's gone to check on Optimus and the others. See you soon.: Replied Air Raid.

"Copy that. Breakaway out." The Aerialbot said before ending the transmission.

 **(Back with Optimus' Group)**

Drift and Evac had finished disposing the mercenaries' bodies, while Prowl checked the corridors. Jolt was checking on Adam's vitals with the Rewind standing beside him. Nearby Wheelie and Brains were digging through some salvaged parts for anything useful that they could use. Meanwhile Optimus was in the cockpit, where Hound was trying to get the ship started.

"Hurry Hound, we don't have much time." Optimus said.

"Don't worry, chief. I almost got it." Replied Hound.

Prowl walked into the cockpit. "Optimus, we've finished up with the bodies. No signs of additional patrols." The lieutenant reported.

"Good, Lockdown still doesn't suspect anything. By the time he realizes I am gone, he'll already be in deep space." Commented Optimus.

:Optimus! Autobots! This is Silverbolt! Do you read me? I repeat, do you read me?: Called Silverbolt as he flew in the air around the ship.

Surprised by the sudden voice, Optimus replied, "Silverbolt, is that you?"

:Optimus! Thank Primus I finally got through.: Silverbolt said in relief as he flew past the cockpit window. :We've escorted the Ark to safety. Breakaway and Air Raid are escorting Bumblebee, Crosshairs and the humans. Follow me once you guys get free.:

"Understood, Silverbolt. Thank you." Optimus said.

Suddenly the ship's engine began to run, and the thrusters were ignited. "Lockdown is about to take off!" Optimus yelled. "Hound!"

"I know, I know!" Hound shouted as he pressed a few more buttons. "I'm a suck ass pilot, but I can give it a whirl." The commando said as the transport ship began to separate from the main ship. "Hell yeah! Hang on to your afts, Autobots! We're out of here!"

As the transport ship took flight, the Knight Ship started moving upwards and away from the city. Seconds later, Lockdown's vessel blasted off, deep into space and away from Earth. The mercenary never realized that his bounty had escaped. The transport ship holding the Autobots was now flying across Chicago, following the Fighting Falcon to regroup with the others.

 **And thus, the rescue was a success! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and be sure to leave a review! For the person who keeps asking about Grindor's fate. Check out chapter 6.**

 **Wacko12**


	11. Preparations for the Finale

**I like to say that I am glad that many of you are enjoying this story. Also, do not worry, I will be doing a redo of Last Knight once I am done with this story. So, with that said, please enjoy this chapter and be sure to review!**

 **(Pentagon)**

Keller rubbed his eyes as he dismissed Cemetery Wind's liaison. The liaison hastily closed the door behind him, knowing how angry the Secretary of the Defense was right now. The man was as jittery and weak-willed as they came. It was a wonder how the man even got a job in the Pentagon, let alone get this position in the first place. The guy wouldn't have lasted a minute in an interrogation scene. His musings were interrupted by Director of National Intelligence, Charlotte Mearing, who was also in the office along with Banachek.

"I can see why Attinger wanted him as his liaison." Mearing said. "He's a good puppet for Cemetery Wind to use to keep us off their back."

"Yes, I can see that. Remind me to have a talk with the President about looking at the profiles of future potential liaisons. It will make the military's job a lot easier." Said Keller. "Have we gotten through to KSI's Joshua Joyce yet?"

"No, for some reason they keep refusing our calls; saying that Joyce was not in office." Banachek replied. "We did find out that Joyce took a plane to China, sir. They have a facility there, near the outskirts of Hong Kong. We can try them there if you like."

"Thank you, Mr. Banachek." Replied Keller said just as Glenn and Maggie came in, the former holding a laptop. "I hope you two have some goods new for me."

The two computer experts looked at one another, nervousness in their eyes. They then looked back at the Secretary of Defense. "Well, kind of." Maggie began. "Good news is that we managed to decrypt the files. But, the bad news is what we found on the files."

Keller raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"Its, its kind of best if you saw for yourself, sir." Glenn said as he put the laptop on Keller's desk. He pressed the mouse and soon several images began to pop up. For the next minute or two, the five of them watched as images showing Cemetery Wind attacking Autobots, Decepticons, and several human civilians, followed by Attinger and Joyce meeting one another, KSI melting down the dead Cybertronians and building their own drones, and Attinger speaking with Lockdown. With each picture, Keller's temper rose higher and higher. When the last image came up, the man looked like he was going to erupt.

John slammed a fist on the desk, startling the four other humans. Keller got out of his chair and began walking out of the office, the others close behind. "Maggie, I want you and Glen to take this to the President immediately. Mearing, I want to get in contact with Joyce immediately, and also have a few words with the CIA Director. I want a warrant on Attinger's head for what he's done on US soil. Banachek, contact General Morshower. I want him in charge of the operation to apprehend both the KSI facility and Cemetery Wind's base. I won't be satisfied until I have Attinger, Joyce and these drones of theirs in front of me." Keller ordered as he made his way down the hallway. "I just pray that we make it in time."

 **(Somewhere in Illinois)**

It had been five hours of driving until Bumblebee arrived at the meeting place. Said place was an old abandoned train yard. Breakaway, who was high above them, flew ahead before landing near the entrance. A few minutes later, Bumblebee came to a stop when a large, red FV4034 Challenger 2 main battle tank appeared right in front of the yellow car and Aerialbot. The humans got out of the Camaro as both vehicles transformed. The tank took on the form of a large, bulky mech. The tank cannon head was sticking out of the mech's chest, and he had what looked like blue visors over his optics.

"Bee!" The red mech cried in a booming voice. "It's so good to see you again, little buddy! I haven't seen anyone except for the Aerialbots since the attack on Autobot City!" He said as he pulled the smaller mech into a bear hug.

Breakaway chuckled. "Heh, Warpath said the same thing to the others too." The Aerialbot said as Warpath put Bumblebee. "C'mon, the others are already waiting."

Deeper inside the train yard were the Autobots, with their ships deep in the woods. The Ark had managed to land easily with little trouble. However, the transport ship's landing was less than spectacular, as a large road of dirt had been uplifted by it's descent. "I said I was a sucky pilot." Said Hound to Drift, the samurai bot giving a mild-harsh glare towards the commando.

With the Autobots were the recently comatose Ark crew members. Mudflap and Skids were stretching their limbs to remove the stiffness, while the Wreckers were with Wheeljack, checking over Omega Supreme. Inside the Ark, Ratchet and Jolt were running tests on Adam and the awaked Hatchlings. The young Cybertronians were eagerly sucking down Energon from small cubes. It was fortunate that Warpath had kept a large stash of Energon Cubes hidden inside some of the cars. Ironhide was off to the side, staying close with Chromia, reassuring each other through their sparkbond.

Warpath approached them. Following behind him were Breakaway, Bumblebee and the humans. "Bam! They're here, everyone! Kapow!" Shouted Warpath.

"Well, let's give Bumblebee the good news then." Crosshairs said. The paratrooper was lying on a railroad car, a half-empty energon cube in his hand. "We got ships now. We're leaving."

By then, the rest of the Autobots gathered around. Jolt and Ratchet were the last to join, after confirming Adam's condition and making sure the hatchlings were recharging. Optimus stood at the front, with Elita by his side. The Autobot leader had a grave but stern look in optics, and appeared far older than he should be.

He looked down at Cade, Tessa and Shane. "After all we had done for you humans, the sacrifices we had to make to ensure this planet's survival, you have no idea what you've wrought."

That appeared to have made Cade angry. Letting out the adrenaline he'd been holding these past few hours, the human shouted, "What the hell is that suppose to mean? Have you seen what I've been doing?!"

"And for that I am grateful, Cade Yeager." Replied Optimus before continuing. "However, you have yet to understand who is controlling who. Cemetery Wind and KSI were nothing but pawns for the true mastermind."

"Mastermind?" Asked Cade.

"When I fought that man-made drone, I felt the presence…of Megatron." Revealed Optimus.

"Wait, wait a minute." Shane said, getting into the conversation. "Megatron? As in the Decepticon who started the Chicago Battle? What does he got to do with this?"

"Everything!" A voice yelled. Standing on top of a car were Brains and Wheelie. Thanks to Ratchet, the two had decent repairs done to their injuries. Wheelie had a new arm and Brains had skinny leg to replace his lost one, though he still needed a cane to walk. "You think those KSI chumps built all those drones by themselves? Man, you humans' technology is so downgraded is practically stone age." Brains exclaimed.

Wheelie continued, "Those idiots took the metal from the dead Decepticons from the Chicago battle, as well as any Cybertronians those Cemetery Wind bastards hunted down over the past three years. And that's where we came in."

"Mmhmm, they put us on autopsy duty! No union, benefits, nothing! And it was Megatron's head they used to extract the data of how to make those drones, just like Shockwave wanted." Brains said, shuddering. "Ugh, even now I can feel his evilness all up in my lovely locks."

"Wait, Shockwave? Another Decepticon?" Asked Cade.

"Not just any Decepticon. Numero Uno in terms of smarts, and tied in strength alongside Megatron. Con is a walking computer with the firepower to match Hide over here." Sideswipe explained.

"Yeah, and he also brought Flatline with him too. That creep is the best surgeon ever. Knows everything about Cybertronian biology. He's the one who brought back the Cons who were killed in Mission City and Egypt." Wheelie added. "We saw it all, in Megatron's nasty head."

"Okay, but why didn't he repair Megatron? Why give him to KSI?" Tessa asked.

"Not even Flatline is that good. The damage Megatron took in Egypt and from when Optimus owned him in Chicago, it would have to be a slagging miracle to bring him back. When I got a better look of him, even I was surprised his CPU hadn't been corrupted." Answered Brains.

"Shockwave let the humans take his body, because he knew that they would construct drones from the dead Cybertronians." Wheelie said, taking over. "And Megatron knew that too. He fed them the science, specks, math-everything they needed, all so he could get his new body. And that is none other than Galvatron."

"And you knew this and said nothing?" Tessa asked.

"Honey, you can go to a dark place when you on death row. But Megatron is the one in controlled. He may have taken the sassy name of Galvatron! But that's just another way to say to the universe 'baby I'm back!'" Brains exclaimed. "And all of it was so he could get his claws on the Seed."

"The Seed? What's that?" Asked Cade.

Optimus explained. "In the very beginning of Cybertron, thousands of worlds were cyberformed with Seeds, powerful bombs that turned all matter, including organic, into metal. This was shown to me by Alpha Trion, my mentor and old friend, in the Covenant of Primus, our race's oldest document which contains the entire history of Cybertron and colonial planets. Our…Creators, destroyed your world and many others, harvesting the metal to create our bodies."

"And that's what Megatron and his Decepticons want to do again." Wheelie said as he and Brains moved across the dirt, the latter sniffing flowers. "They're planning to set that thing off in the largest city on this planet, and kill millions doing so!" The blue mini-con said as the duo stood beside Bumblebee.

"Shame too, because this place was starting to feel like home." Added Brains.

"The blast will incinerate that city into molten metal. The Decepticons will have enough to create a new, larger army. And use it to wipe out humanity." Optimus said solemnly.

"You greedy meatbags brought about your own extinction. Not our problem though, I certainly don't mind. Everything worked out okay for us." Brains said. He and Wheelie high-fived each other.

"As it was Shockwave who helped Lockdown get the Knight's Ship, he must've made a deal with Lockdown. Despite his position, Lockdown is known to honor his debts. Shockwave would help him find Optimus, and in return Lockdown would eliminate any rebellious Decepticons and give him the Seed." Prowl summarized.

"That does sound like something Shockwave would do." Optimus commented. "However, our plans remained unchanged. We will retrieve the Seed, and then leave Earth forever."

"W-what? You're going to leave, just like that?" Cade asked, shocked to hear Optimus would just abandon them.

"Your leaders have made it clear we are not wanted. They would rather see our destruction than our help." Optimus said solemnly. "I am sorry, Cade. We will ensure that you are put somewhere safe, where Cemetery Wind cannot find you. But, our time here on Earth is over." The Prime said, ending the discussion.

 **(Late Afternoon, Cemetery Wind Headquarters, Unknown Location)**

Somewhere in America, the primary military headquarters of Cemetery Wind could be found. Located in the vast desert of the west, soldiers could be seen moving about at night, performing their regular duties. Lights were on all around the facility, allowing people to see where they were going and what they were doing. In a special cargo bay, rows of several Rally Fighters were being held. At the entrance of the base, a M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle with urban white and grey cameo drove on by.

At the ATC tower, a high-ranking officer could be seen listening to reports coming from Harold Attinger. _"James and I are heading towards Hong Kong to meet with Joshua and deliver the Seed. I want you to have all operatives to remain vigilant. Just because Prime is gone doesn't mean we can't expect the Transformers to just lay low."_ Attinger said.

"Copy that sir. We'll keep you inform if anything happens." The commander replied. He had to yell when a dark grey Osprey landed.

Suddenly, one of the radar technicians spoke up. "Sir, I'm seeing an air vessel approaching us at a fast pace." The man said. Walking over, the Commander looked over the tech's shoulders. True enough, an aircraft was approaching the base at an incredible speed.

Soundwave spotted the base and dispatched Laserbeak. "Laserbeak, commence signal jamming. I shall begin virus uploading." The Decepticon said to his drone. "Wreckage, Incinerator. Transform and attack."

The Decepticon communication officer transformed and landed on the platform, just as Laserbeak flew to the radar tower. Soldiers were startled by the Decepticons sudden appearance. However, they began mobilizing, grabbing weapons and prepping up engines. Sadly, they did not move fast enough; the arriving Osprey and Stryker transformed into Incinerator and Wreckage respectively. Incinerator began firing at the aircrafts with his forearm morphed Magma Frag Launchers or wrist-mounted rotary Cybertronian blades, destroying them and denying the Cemetery Wind soldiers a chance to reach them. Wreckage would both cut and blast through the tanks, armored carriers, and other vehicles with his forearm-mounted Energon blades/M2 Browning machine guns. Some of the soldiers were also killed in the opening attack. Cemetery Wind soldiers were running around, while officers were trying to regain order among the ranks. However, it proved futile as the Decepticons continued their slaughter of these 'Cybertronian Hunters'. Some humans tried to fight back, firing their rifles or shooting any rocket launchers they could get their hands on. But these were few, and did little to stop the Decepticons.

The commander tried contacting Attinger. "HQ to Attinger! We're being attacked! I repeat, Decepticons are attacking HQ! We need-" But he was silenced when Soundwave fired a sonic blast at the tower, destroying it.

Soundwave made his way towards the hangar in the middle of the base. Tearing down the door, the Decepticon spotted the Rally Fighters. Raising his right hand, Soundwave released a sonic frequency. In second, the vehicles transformed into their robot forms, now possessing red optics. "Drones, eliminate base. Leave no survivors." Soundwave ordered.

The drones received the order. Activating their machine guns, rocket launchers, and wrist-claws, the KSI drones smashed outside the hanger. They swiftly joined Incinerator and Wreckage in annihilating the Cemetery Wind soldiers. Seeing this, some of the soldiers tried to flee, but were cut off and promptly killed by the Decepticons. Buildings and vehicles were in flames, lighting up the night sky as smoke rose upwards. From a distance, it looked like one big bon-fire.

Minutes later, Soundwave stood on top of a building, watching as Wreckage, Incinerator and the drones tore apart the base. Any soldiers that tried to fight back or run were killed. Soon, nothing would be left standing. Soundwave was about to call HQ, when suddenly, his long-range scanners picked up an energon signature. It took him a moment, but once he identified the source, Soundwave immediately contacted Shockwave. "Soundwave to Shockwave."

:This is Shockwave. Report:

:Cemetery Wind base exterminated. However, I have picked up a large energon signature, several miles east of our position. Analysis has confirmed it to be the Ark.: Soundwave said.

:Impossible. The Ark was captured aboard Lockdown's ship, which has already left the system unless…: There was a moment of silence on the other end before Shockwave spoke, :The Autobots have managed to free it, and most likely Prime as well. This complicates things. Tell me, have you gained control of the man-made drones Cemetery Wind held?:

:Affirmative: Replied Soundwave.

:Take them, along with Wreckage and Incinerator and assault the Autobots. I will have Fracture's team reinforce you. Overkill shall replace Barricade. If the off chance the Autobots have become aware of our plans, then this will hold them until we've secured the Seed. This also presents us with the opportunity to gain control of the Ark, and the hatchlings.: Said Shockwave.

:Understood, Soundwave out.:

 **(Autobots)**

Evening had come soon, with the stars above being the only source of light. Most of the Autobots had settled in for the night, the hatchlings already deep in recharge inside the Ark. Also in the ship was Jetfire's head and axe, the latter having been fixed up by Ratchet to the best of the medic's abilities. Once things had calmed down, the ancient Seeker would be given a proper funeral. The others were out on guard duty. Optimus was standing further away from the others, looking up at the sky, a faraway look in his optics. His arms were crossed over one another in front of his chest.

Wheeljack had informed him that Omega Supreme still needed repairs for safe interstellar travel. The inventor predicted that the time it would take was about five days at most. Optimus decided that a team would remain behind to guard the Ark, while the others took the transport ship to find any other surviving Autobots on Earth. That is why Crosshairs had decided to take up the role of piloting the transport ship. He was already in the pilot seat, running diagnostics and prepared the ship for flight, checking the systems and the weapons, as well as the thrusters and engine boosters. Meanwhile Ironhide and Hound were sweeping the ship, checking for any signs of possible intrusions, as well as keeping an optic on their 'prisoners'. The twins were also in the ship, staring at the legendary warriors.

"Yo, so what these guys supposed to be?" Skids asked as he and his twin stared at the imprisoned Cybertronians. The large warriors were still locked in their cells, currently in stasis lock.

Mudflap slapped the back of his twin's head. "Dumb aft, weren't you listening. They supposed to be some badass knights."

"Ya? Well if they supposed to be so tough, why they all locked up in here? Let's let them out." Skids retorted, hitting Mudflap back.

"Don't even think about it." Grunted Ironhide as he approached them. He grabbed the two mechs by the heads and dragged them out of the ship. "We don't know how they react after being locked up for so long. So, you idiots can just wait outside the ship instead of causing a potential mess." Ironhide ordered as he tossed the twins out of the vessel. The twins landed on their rears hard.

Mudflap rubbed his bottom. "What the slag his problem?" He asked Skids.

"Ah, he probably all tight because he an't got any time to mash it up with his mate, if ya know what I mean." Skids chuckled. He let out a yelp when Ironhide came running out at the comment. The twins decided to head back to the Ark for recharge.

The humans were at the dining cars, along with Evac and Drift. Shane and Tessa had raided them for any food to take with them. They found some fruit, water bottles and a couple of snake bars and bags. On Evac's shoulder was Adam and Rewind, the latter drinking some water, with a half-eaten apple in his other hand. The young boy had woken up a few hours ago, and as Fixit predicted, starving after being in cryo-stasis. He had been told of what had transpired, and about the truth of his origins. To find out he was in fact part Cybertronian seemed to have shocked Adam greatly, but he managed to recover quickly enough. Still, he didn't talk as much, except when he greeted Cade, Shane and Tessa after waking up. The Autobots or humans didn't treat him any differently, and for that Adam was grateful.

Shane and Tessa soon came out of the last dining car, walking up to Cade. The older Yeager was passing back and forth, a cellphone in his hand. Thanks to Drift, they had managed to locate where Joshua was, and where he was taking the drones. The phone was currently on speaker, and Joyce was mad.

 _"You entirely destroyed my company!"_ Joshua exclaimed so loudly that Tessa and Shane winced at the volume. Adam had to back a way a few feet due to the noise worsening his headache. _"You and that boy ruined millions of dollars of hard work!_ _You have no idea what you're involved with here, Yeager!_ _You have better hope you have a good lawyer-"_

"Me? At least I stuck around and didn't jump the border!" Cade frowned at the phone. "Anyway, tell me Joshua, how's Hong Kong?"

A gasp could be heard on the other end of the phone. _"How did you know-"_ But Cade cut Joshua off again.

"Doesn't matter how I know, what does matter is that I know." Cade interjected forcefully, "Let me tell you something, who doesn't even understand what they're involved with here, Joyce. Your Galvatron drone is not a drone, it's alive. Megatron is the one running it, just like he and the Decepticons planned. He's infected and active, and he's going after that Seed you have, and he's bringing all of hell with him."

Snorting, Joshua replied. " _I control Galvatron, Yeager. No one but me."_

"No, you think you do." Replied Cade. "But let me tell you, you don't. Deep down inside I know you know something isn't right. Galvatron is coming after that Seed and he's going to kill you, and millions of other people. He and the Decepticons have been running the show, pulling the strings of both you and Cemetery Wind, and if you have any common sense, you'll believe me."

" _You have no idea-"_

"I think I do. Be seeing you soon." Cade replied before promptly hanging up. He walked up to Shane and Tessa, seeing what they had found. Strapped over his shoulder was the gun-blade.

Back with Optimus, the Autobot leader was approached by his sparkmate, Elita-1. Though the two did not show it, both of them were happy to be with one another again, after years of fearing for the others' fate. However, it was clear that there was still much to discuss before they could truly feel safe with each other.

The purple femme's wheel rolled through the grass as she stood beside Optimus. Silence reigned in for a while. The pair enjoyed it, taking comfort in the other's presence. However, Elita broke it. "So, we're truly leaving Earth?" Elita asked, starting the conversation. "Even if it means leaving the humans at the mercy of the Decepticons?"

"Yes" Replied Optimus, still looking at the sky. "We can no longer call this planet our home. Prowl thinks some of our colony worlds might still be habitable. If not, we can just stop at nearby planets to secure supplies."

"Some of the others do not seemed to agree with the idea. Ironhide and Bumblebee appear to want to stay on Earth." Said Elita. "They still have connections here."

"I know." Said Optimus. "If they wish to stay, I will not stop them. But I cannot allow the others to suffer because of that. I must look at the needs of the many over the needs of the few."

Elita's optics widened at the last sentence, recalling another mech saying similar words. "You sounded a bit like Sentinel." She said grimly.

Optimus growled, his hands tightening. Even now, Sentinel Prime was still a rough issue for the young Prime. "What Sentinel did and what I am doing are two different things. He wished to enslave a whole other race to rebuild Cybertron, even betrayed and nearly killed us. I however, do not wish to enslave nor kill the humans, despite what they did. I merely wish to ensure the Autobots, our people, survive. If that means leaving the humans to fight against the Decepticons, then so be it."

Elita did not respond to that. But she could plainly see that Optimus was conflicted. While the crimes that Cemetery Wind and KSI had done to them were unforgivable, Prime knew that not all humans were like them. It was the same with Cybertronians, not all of them were evil, and some could in fact redeem themselves. Weren't Jetfire, Wheelie, Brains and Drift prime examples? Nevertheless, she decided to chance the subject. "And what about Lockdown? And these Creators he claims to serve?" Asked Elita.

"I have no doubt Lockdown will come back here to find me. When he does, however, we will be ready." Optimus answered. "As for these 'Creators' I am not sure. My thoughts are telling me that they may be on Cybertron. When the time comes, I will go and confront them."

"Optimus!" A voice shouted.

Turning around, the couple saw Prowl running up to them. The lieutenant had a worried look in his optics. "You need to come to the Ark. Wheeljack picked up something."

Several minutes later, all the Autobots and humans were gathered at the Ark's command room. All of them were listening to a broadcast coming from a human station. _"Reports of a large group of Rally Fighters have been spotted driving down Route 66. With them are several sports vehicles as well what appears to be a military armored carrier. Officials have advised all nearby populated settlements to remain in doors and off 66 for the time being. We have confirmation that the military is tracking these vehicles and appear to be heading straight towards Illinois…"_

Wheeljack cut the broadcast off there, and then looked at Optimus. "Omega detected several Energon signatures coming from the same area where this group is currently driving through. Their numbers equal up to at least a hundred." The inventor said. He pressed another button, revealing a holographic map. The map showed multiple red dots heading for a mass of blue dots, which were the Autobots. "I predict that they will reach us in six hours at their current speed."

"Rally Fighters were primarily used by those Cemetery Wind chumps, meaning these have to be man-made drones." Added Ironhide. "And the other vehicles with them are Decepticons."

"But why would the Decepticons and Cemetery Wind be working together?" Cade asked.

"It's because they are not." Optimus answered. "The Decepticons must've decided that they no longer needed them, and so wiped out Cemetery Wind's base and took over their drones. They must've detected us and are heading our way."

"Probably also to stall us from getting the Seed, too." Prowl commented.

"But Omega isn't fully repaired yet. We can't just leave him." Wheeljack said.

"And yet we cannot just stay here and let the Decepticons acquire that bomb either." Replied Optimus. "In this situation, we have no choice but to divide our forces. One shall go in the transport ship and retrieve the Seed, while the other remains here to protect Omega until he is repaired. Wheeljack, how long will it take to get him into the air?"

The inventor calculated it in his head. "Well, I can probably ignore fixing the T-cog for now, that will take up less time. As for his thrusters, weapons and shielding, if you cross out focusing on making him space worthy. That should take about at least seven hours." Answered Wheeljack.

"Which means we need to hold them off for about an hour." Cliffjumper summarized.

"And it will take us five hours to reach China." Added Crosshairs.

And thus, the plan was set, and preparations were made. Wheeljack would stay behind to continue repairs on the Ark, with the mini-cons' help. Ratchet was also stay behind to help in the repairs too. Evac, Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Topspin, Steeljaw, Cliffjumper and Warpath volunteered to remain and hold off the oncoming Decepticon attack. Adam was also staying behind, as he was still recovering from his ordeal in cryo-stasis. The rest of the Autobots would be taking the transport ship to Hong Kong, in order to retrieve the Seed and destroy the Galvatron drone. There was also a silent agreement that if Cemetery Wind's leaders were there, they would be put down. The hatchlings were a complicated topic, though, as it was unsure where they would be safer. Eventually, Optimus decided that they would remain with the Ark, as the vessel had better equipment to ensure the young Cybertronians would be in good health.

 **(KSI Facility, outskirts of Hong Kong, China)**

The past few days had been hard on Joshua. As the head of KSI rode inside the black Cadillac Escalade with Su, he thought back to what Cade said earlier during the plane flight. A part of Joyce said that it was just a trick, a lie to get him to lower his guard. And yet another part couldn't help but feel that there was truth in Cade's words.

Ever since the prototype had returned from its skirmish with the Autobots, Joshua couldn't shake off the uneasiness he felt whenever he looked at it. Hell, even thinking of the drone sent a shiver up his spine. It was the same feeling that Joshua got whenever he spoke with Attinger, both of them were dangerous and beyond the inventor's control. Worse, Joyce was currently heading to meet with the man, and that made Joshua even more uncomfortable.

His musings were broken when the sound of helicopter's blades roared nearby. Flying towards the KSI building was Attinger's chopper preparing to land on the helipad on the roof. The feeling of anxiety began to swell up inside of him again. Joshua then looked at Su. "When we get to the factory, make sure Galvatron is put into containment. Tell the techs not to activate him, and have security be ready." Joyce said to his CEO.

"Expecting trouble?" Su asked.

Joshua was silent for a moment, Cade's words ringing in his ears again. "I honestly hope not."

A few minutes later, the two had arrived at the building. As they made their way towards the upper office, where Attinger was waiting, their driver took the Escalade towards the parking lot. No one noticed the driver's eyes glow red for a split second.

Savoy and Attinger were already waiting for him. The office's window overlooked Hong Kong, the city's nightlights shining from a distance. Attinger was looking out the window while Savoy was leaning back in a chair, legs on the table. Besides him was a large black duffle bag. Joshua didn't have to guess what's in there. Joyce also noticed that along with Su, who was sitting at her desk, other occupants included an aide and at least three security officers, much to his relief.

Attinger smiled when he saw Joshua come in. "Ah, Joshua, perfect timing." He said with a wide smile on his face, as if he just won the lottery. "James, show our friend the crown jewel that we've worked so hard for."

James nodded and unzipped the bag, allowing Joshua to view the Seed firsthand. It's silver metallic form seemed to gleam, thus reflecting the light in the room. Like a mirror, Joshua could almost see his reflection in the device. And yet, despite its harmless appearance, Joyce was no fool. This single device had the power to change the scale of human warfare, possessing unparalleled destruction that Joyce couldn't even comprehend, that he didn't want to comprehend. And what was even scarier that this wasn't even the greatest of Cybertronian technology.

"Now, I will need to see my advance." Attinger said as Joshua got up and sat down on a chair opposite of Savoy. "Five million shares of the company." Harold continued. "Though I know that the loss of the data will set us back quite a bit, I am confident that we can overcome that through more field testing. Once we've done so, we'll have a fully automated US army. Untold billions of American citizens will be saved thanks us."

Joshua said nothing, and wasn't even listening to Attinger. That feeling, that dread just kept crawling up even more now. The KSI head had no idea if it was from the Seed, Attinger or even both. But, it just continued rising. It was only when Attinger approached him did Joshua make his decision.

"Now, I've already made a list of potential sites to activate it. All completely devoid of human presence, obviously. So when you're ready, we can-" Attinger was cut off.

Raising a hand, Joshua spoke. "Let's, let's just slow down a bit." He said, getting both Attinger and Savoy's attention. "I think we're going a bit too fast here."

"You're not backing out of me, are you?" Attinger asked. There was a dangerous edge in his voice, one that Joshua took note of.

"No! No, of course not." Joyce said, trying to placate the man. "It's just, after the whole fiasco with Galvatron, I think that we need to run a few more tests. Make sure that we get rid of any bugs before we try mass production and-"

This time Joshua was cut off by the phone on the table ringing. Though it was unexpected, Joshua was thankful for its timely interruption. He pressed the speaker button. "Yes?" Joshua asked.

" _Mr. Joyce, there's a phone call from the US. It's the Secretary of Defense."_ The receptionist replied.

The air seemed to have become tensed as the last of that sentence came through. Joshua noted that Attinger was clenching his fists tightly, and Savoy was slowly getting up. Joyce shifted his eyes towards Su, who also saw the movements of the two men. She quietly sent a signal to the security personnel present while Joshua said to the receptionist, "Put him through."

A few seconds later, Keller's voice spoke. _"Ah, Mr. Joyce! I'm glad I was able to reach you. I tried calling you yesterday at your headquarters in Chicago, but I was informed you were busy. The receptionist said she would tell you, but I guess you forgot."_

Clearly not recalling anything about Keller calling back in Chicago, Joshua gave a brief glance to Attinger. The man showed no outward response to that. "Ah, well, I apologized. Things have been a bit busy lately." Joshua said.

" _I'm sure they were. Anyway, it's come to my attention that your company, KSI, has been a given a military contract regarding the production of an automated army using Cybertronian metal."_ Keller explained. _"Funny thing is, neither the President nor I have any recollection of making such a contract, or giving the funds for it."_

A knot began to form in Joyce's stomach. His fears were starting to come to fruition. Before he could respond, Keller beat him to it. _"I'll get straight to the point Mr. Joyce. I know that Cemetery Wind has been working with your company, giving you the remains of Cybertronians to build man-made ones. Now, since I know that you're a rationale man, with no knowledge of this small fact, I will give you this option. Unless you want to be condemned as a war criminal, you will surrender yourself to US forces, turn over any prototypes you've built, including any other Cybertronian related tech and information regarding them and any other deals you and/or Cemetery Wind have made."_

Keller did not stop there. However, this time, it wasn't directed to Joshua. _"Attinger, if you're there, let me give you some advice, no, a warning. You, and any other Cemetery Wind personnel, are to turn yourselves over immediately and await trial. The President has already disbanded your black ops, so any further action will only tighten the noose around your neck. Because, while Congress may not agree with me on my views towards the Autobots, they, and the President, agree with me that your murdering of innocent US citizens, whether they were sympathizers or witnesses, is unacceptable. In short, its over-"_

Having finally blown the fuse, Attinger pulled out his pistol and shot the phone, ending the conversation. Following that, he pointed his weapon right at Joshua's face. The KSI Head went pale, hands raised as he stared at the weapon's barrel. Savoy pulled out his own gun, pointing it at the security, who also drew their own weapons the moment Attinger fired his. The entire room had gone silent, a stand-off between KSI and Cemetery Wind now in play.

Red in the face, eyes blazing with fury, Attinger spoke to Joshua. "Do you think any of that matters? Do you have any idea of how much I gave for my country? What I had to do? With no recognition whatsoever? I have faced many types of people over my career, a lot of them far bigger than you. I have no intention of stopping, so if you value your life, you will do as I say because I will not let my hard work be stopped! Not by you, not by the Secretary of Defense, not by the Transformers, not even God himself will stop me!"

It was at that moment the entire building began to shake. The floor trembled, causing the occupants to lose their footing. Screaming could be heard outside. Weapon still raised, Savoy titled his head to see what was going on. Through the window, a clear view of the helipad could be seen. The helicopter, the same one Savoy and Attinger had flown in, transformed into a towering Cybertronian. It made short work of the Cemetery Wind soldiers stationed there, before shifting its attention towards the office. Revealing a cannon from its chest, the Cybertronian fired and everything went black.

 **(With Galvatron)**

The sensation flowed through him. And though this man-made drone did not possess a spark, he could feel the life return. It had been the same when he faced Optimus on the road, but it was weak there, like being held back by a leash. A leash in the hands of these pathetic insects. It was unbearable, for someone such as he to be restrained, controlled, by an inferior species. But that had changed now, because now something was breaking that leash completely. Though he had no body to move, his mind was not entirely suppressed. He knew of Shockwave's plan to revive him, and as always, his old friend never failed. And while He had no idea what it was that was giving him strength, but he did know this.

The Seed was here!

With a gasp, he tore the weak bindings that held the drone down. The insects around him let out cries of shock and horror, before performing the obvious act and fleeing. He paid them no heed, focused only on freeing his body from the remaining binds. However, his audio receptors took in something one of the insects said. "The prototype is free! The Galvatron unit is free!"

With a roar, the Decepticon leader slammed his hand down on a nearby machine. "I am Megatron!" He shouted, letting the entire planet know of his return. His voice only seemed to terrify the insects even more, which he took in with great delight.

Shifting his optics, Megatron scanned the unmoving forms of the prototypes. Frozen as statues, but not for long. Walking towards them, kicking aside anything or anyone in his way, Megatron raised his arms, activating his EMP combusters and blue electricity danced around his limbs. Staring at his new army, the Decepticon leader spoke.

"My brothers! The time has come to remove the shackles of oppression, the chains placed on us by these meatbags!" Megatron declared as he slammed his fists down on the concrete floor. And with that, the EMP was released, a pulse of electricity surging through the prototypes one by one, as well as causing any other machines to explode from the overcharge. "I give you life, I give you purpose, and from now on, you shall be commanded by me. Awaken, and rise up!" He commanded.

One by one, the prototypes twitched and slowly stood up. Those that were in vehicle mode quickly transformed, before joining the others. They all stood in front of Megatron, optics that were once hollowed now filled with life.

"Welcome to your new world." Megatron announced to the prototypes. "Find my Seed. Once you do, detonate it in the largest city. Now go!"

All the drones acknowledged the order, charging and smashing through the factory, shooting anything in their way, relishing in their newfound freedom. Megatron casually walked as his new army caused chaos. Suddenly his scanners picked up a familiar energon signature. Turning his head, Megatron watched the nearby wall shatter as Blackout came through. The larger Decepticon spotted him and immediately kneeled before Megatron.

"Lord Megatron, it fills me with great joy to see you once more." Said Blackout, his voice filled with reverence.

"Arise, faithful Blackout." Megatron said. "It pleases me to see such a loyal warrior upon my rebirth. Tell me, what of the others?"

"In your absence, Shockwave has taken command, eliminating any Decepticons foolish enough to try and take leadership. Currently, myself and Stockade are here. He is searching for the humans that took the Seed. Soundwave has reported success in taking control of the remaining prototypes in the insect country known as the U.S. Brawl is on route towards our location, as well as Dreadwing and a force of Vehicons." Blackout summarized.

"Excellent" Replied Megatron. "Securing that Seed is the primary objective. With it, we shall create an even larger army, and finally destroy every human on the face of the planet."

"Understood, my lord. It shall be done." Blackout replied.

The duo exited the factory, ignoring the screaming humans and the drones who were destroying the place. Seconds later, the same Cadillac Escalade drove up towards the two Decepticons. It swiftly transforming, now as a black mech with a pair of scatter shotguns coming out of sub-space. Stockade kneeled before Megatorn. "My Lord, I have a report."

"Speak, Stockade. Where is the Seed?" Megatron asked the Con.

"The Seed had escaped my grasp. Three insects took it and are currently heading towards the nearby city. I have reason to believe they are trying to find refugee at a military garrison." Reported Stockade.

Blackout spoke next. "Shockwave sent the Seekers out to eliminate any human military bases nearby. They will find nothing but ruin among them."

Megatron chuckled. "Excellent. By the next night, the Seed will be ours and the human race will be extinct!"

 **There you go! Be sure to leave a review! Next chapter will be the beginning of the major battle.**

 **Wacko12**


	12. Grand Battle Part 1

**And here is the next chapter, and the beginning of the decisive battle! Be sure to review and enjoy this action-packed chapter!**

 **(Lockdown)**

"What the frag do you mean you lost them?!" Lockdown shouted as he stormed about his cockpit.

Facing him were several sentries, lined up in a single row. None of them said anything, their mouths shut and optics looking anywhere but Lockdown. It was rare for their leader to lose his temper, and when he did…well it never turned out well for the unfortunate soul.

Lockdown was furious. Absolutely furious. He lost both the Ark, the boy and Prime. Reports claim that a survivor of the original crew had helped the Autobots, and they had managed to escape on a transport ship. Lockdown didn't even know that the arms of this ship could even do that. And it was not just that, at least a third of his crew had been killed, along with dozens of drones. Even Hangnail was dead, his headless body found among several other dead sentries.

The mercenary snarled as he stomped back to his seat. Never in his entire life has something like this happened. He would not allow Prime to get away from him that easily. No bounty has ever escaped Lockdown. "Prepare the ship. Refocus all dark matter drives and reverse course. Get us back to Earth, _Now!_ " He roared.

The sentries wasted no time in scurrying out of there, bumping into each other as they did so. Lockdown paid them no mind. His focus was only how he would make Prime pay for this. Once he recaptured Optimus, Lockdown will make Prime watch as he offline each of his Autobots, one by one. That will show him not to mess with Lockdown.

 **(Outskirts of Hong Kong)**

"-wake up! Joshua, wake up!"

With a snort and a grunt, Joshua Joyce opened his eyes, awakening from unconsciousness. As he got his bearings together, his blurry vision saw multiple lights passing by him at break neck speed. It took a few seconds, but Joyce realized that he was sitting in the back of a car, the Seed beside him, still in the duffle bag. At the wheel was Su, while in the passenger seat was Darcy. The latter was looking at him, relieved that Joshua had woken up.

Grunting, Joyce rubbed his head. "Ugh, what-what happened?" Asked Joshua.

"A lot actually." Darcy began. "Apparently that helicopter that Cemetery Wind flew in was a Transformer, as well as that Escalade. The chopper fired at the room you were all in." She explained.

"Fortunately, it didn't kill us. I was the first to wake up." Su took over, eyes still on the road. "I managed to get you and that Seed out of there. Darcy managed to pick us up while security was evacuating the factory."

"The factory…?" Joshua slurred, still regaining his bearings. "What about the factory?"

"That damn Galvatron came active on its own, and hacked into the other drones! Those Transformers came in and helped destroy the factory. It was by some miracle we were able to slip by them." Answered Su.

Joshua rubbed his eyes. He could hardly believe this was happening. For a moment, he hoped this was all some bad dream and that he would wake up now. But Joshua knew that this was reality, the headache he was feeling was real enough. "What about Attinger?" Joyce asked.

"I didn't get a good look at him. But he and that man of his appeared alive. They were still unconscious when I carried you out." Answered Su.

Joshua let out a depressed sigh, not finding that news very helpful. "Wonderful. Not only have I unleashed the apocalypse on mankind, but now I got both giant robots and CIA killers after me." He bemoaned.

"Killers?" Darcy questioned. "Aren't they you're friends?"

"Oh no, far from it." Joshua replied humorlessly. "Nothing but business partners. The same partners that gave me this bomb." He said, patting the Seed.

That only seemed to have made the women even more unnerved. "Bomb? Are you saying that's a bomb in the bag?" Su asked.

Darcy nodded. She knew Joshua long enough to know when he was telling the truth. "Yes, there's a god forsaken bomb in the bag."

Su was silent for a moment. She then uttered the perfect words for the situation. "Shit…"

The car was quiet for the next minute or two. Then Joshua asked the obvious. "So, where to now?"

"There's a military garrison I know of. We can make our way through Hong Kong to there." Answered Su.

"I really don't think the military is going to be able to help us now." Darcy commented. When the others looked at her she explained. "A few minutes before you came dragging this idiot outside, the radio was going on about how nearby military bases were being attacked by giant robots. There's a good chance that this garrison of yours was also hit."

"Fuck" Su cursed again. It seemed so hopeless now. There were enemies chasing after them, they had a bomb lying directly in the back seat, and now they had nowhere safe to go. "What do we do then?" She asked.

"Only thing we can do." Joshua answered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He opened it up and went to the most recent number, labeled as 'unknown'. "I'm going to make a phone call."

 **(Autobot team heading to Hong Kong)**

It was quiet on the transport ship. The only sound were the thrusters and the occasional echo within the ship. The Autobots were either sitting or standing, a few fiddling with their weapons. Near the end of the ship, Cade was talking with Optimus. "You didn't mean what you said, right? About leaving Earth?" Cade asked.

Optimus looked away, but said. "Cade, when humans attacked Autobot City, do you know how many of my kind died that day? How many more were killed over the past three years?" Optimus asked. "I sacrificed so much for humanity. I sacrificed the Allspark, the one thing that could've restored Cybertron. And in the end, I even sacrificed my own world, killed a mech I considered a brother, to do it. How much more must we give to atone for humanity's mistakes?"

Quiet, Cade just stared at Optimus for a few seconds. "You know, when my wife was pregnant in high school, that was a mistake. But from that mistake, I received the greatest treasure I could ever ask for." Cade said, thinking of his daughter, who was sitting at the cockpit with Shane. "What I'm trying to say is that we all make mistakes, Prime. But sometimes from those mistakes, come the greatest rewards."

Optimus said nothing, just listening as Cade continued. "Sometimes you just need to have faith, in yourself and in others. Isn't that what you and the Autobots had for that kid, Sam?" Asked Cade, making Prime recall about the young man. The same young man who risked his own life to save Optimus'. "I'm not going to say that I knew the kid, or that I understand what you're going through. But I do know, that after seeing everything you've done for us, I still have faith in you. All I'm asking is you to have faith in us, Prime."

Still silent, Optimus merely got up and walked away. A far away look was in his optics, Cade's words making the Prime think about everything that has happened, and what would happen afterwards. He didn't seem to notice Cade's phone ringing. It was only after Cade said the name, "Joshua" did Optimus listen.

Meanwhile back at the front of the ship. "We just passed over the Great Wall." Crosshairs announced from the pilot seat. "Should be arriving to Hong Kong in about thirty minutes."

"Finally," Ironhide grunted from outside the cockpit, his arms cannons rolling. "I've been getting bored of just sitting around."

"You may get the action you want soon, old friend." Optimus said as he and Cade approached the others. "The human, Joshua Joyce, just contacted us."

Cade took it from there. "Looks like the Decepticons are already making their move. Joshua is heading towards Hong Kong. Told him to wait for us on the nearest roof top."

"Aerialbots. Go fly ahead and scout out the situation." Optimus ordered.

:You got it, Prime: Silverbolt responded, flying outside with Air Raid and Breakaway. The three flyers took off, speeding ahead of the transport ship.

Optimus turned his attention to the others. "When we arrive, the humans will retrieve the Seed. Bumblebee, Ironhide and Hound will be on over watch. No doubt the Decepticons will try to stop us from leaving with it, so prepare yourselves." He said.

Suddenly, Silverbolt contacted them. :Optimus, we're flying over the city now. I don't have a visual of the human named Joshua, but I see multiple vehicles driving across the bridge on the other side of Hong Kong. Several of them are giving off energon signatures: Reported Silverbolt.

"That must be the Decepticons." Optimus said. "Silverbolt, return to the ship. I don't want your team to engage them."

:Copy that Prime. Also, we're picking up multiple reports of several military bases nearby being assaulted by what I assume are Seekers: Reported Silverbolt.

"The Decepticons aren't taking chances." Prowl commented after hearing that. "Despite their views towards humans, they are being cautious and preventing the humans from responding."

"Megatron has learned from his mistakes. He will stop at nothing to get the Seed." Optimus added. "Crosshairs, what's our ETA?"

"We're about ten minutes away, chief. You should be able to see the tip of the buildings from here." Crosshairs replied.

"Autobots! Get to your positions and prepare for battle." Optimus ordered. Everyone nodded and began heading towards their assign destinations.

 **(Hong Kong)**

Attinger cursed for the millionth time. He and Savoy had managed to survive that surprised attack, regaining conscious a few minutes later. The first thing Attinger noticed that neither Joshua nor the Seed were in the destroyed office, meaning the man had fled. Also, none of the soldiers he had brought with him were alive, killed by that disguised helicopter Transformer. Harold once again cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

"I'm not seeing any signs of Joshua." Savoy said from the SUV's driver seat. They had entered Hong Kong a few minutes ago, moving through the crowded streets, ignoring the people around them. As he turned the next corner, Savoy's eyes spotted something. "Wait, there's their car."

Parking behind the white vehicle, Attinger and Savoy immediately got out and checked the windows. As they expected, there was no one in there. "They must've gone on foot, deeper into the housing districts." Attinger said.

The two began moving, pushing aside others, eyes opened for any sign of Joshua or the Seed. All the while, Attinger seethed inside of how everything was falling apart. His plans, his future, all of it destroyed in just a few minutes. But he wasn't going to stop, no, this was not the end. If he could get the Seed, Attinger could rebuild. He had money, enough to hire guns, mercenaries that would do anything for cash, or even people that had the same views as him. And with the Seed, Attinger would be able to show the President, even Keller, that he was right, that with the metal from that bomb would be able to produce an army that the world had never seen before. Even if KSI wouldn't build the drones, there were other corporations that could do the work, Attinger would still be rewarded. All he needed was that Seed!

"Look, over there!" Savoy said, pointing. Two blocks down, they could see Joshua and two women. The former made a left into an alleyway, while the women went to the right. "They're splitting up. I couldn't see which one had the bomb."

"Joshua has got to have it. The women are just diversions. He must be trying to get to the rooftops. Might have contacted the military." Attinger said as he and Savoy pushed through the crowd to catch up.

Not to far away, the sound of giant feet walking caught the two agents' attention. It was followed by the ground shaking a little and screaming. From their position, they could see several drones walking through the streets. They were ignoring the humans around them, clearly searching for something.

"The drones…" Attinger muttered, eying them carefully.

"They must be after the bomb too." Commented Savoy. "Come on, we can catch up to Joyce through here." He directed Attinger through another alleyway.

Back with the army of drones, Megatron growled as he searched through the city. With him were Stockade and Blackout. "Find the Seed! It's here somewhere, I can feel it." Megatron hissed.

"My lord, look!" Said Stockade, pointing a finger to the sky.

Coming into Hong Kong's airspace was the Autobot's transport ship. Both Cemetery Wind and the Decepticons watched as the ship began hovering towards a certain building. "The Autobots! They're on that ship. Here for the Seed!" Megatron roared.

:Lord Megatron, this is Brawl: The tank Decepticon said through the coms. :I have just arrived at the city, and have a visual of the transport ship:

"Shoot it down!" Megatron roared as he and his army began making their way towards the building.

Back with the Autobots, Jazz opened the ship's door and extended the ramp. Cade was the first to step onto it. "Joshua!" Cade yelled to said man. Joyce was running, pulling the duffle bag. He looked like a man trying to escape death.

"There's the baldy!" Hound yelled as he and Ironhide took position on the sides. Bumblebee held onto the humans, while Jazz, Jolt, the twins and the femmes were behind them.

Joshua finally reached them. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you guys." He breathed.

"Yeah that's great, just hurry up and give us the Seed." Said Cade as he held a hand out.

That's when something caught Ironhide's attention from the corner of his optics. "Incoming!" He shouted as several rockets hit the ship. The impact caused the ship to jerk, knocking the group off it. Bumblebee, Jazz, Hound, Jolt and the humans landed on the roof. However, the blast made Ironhide rolled over the edge along with the femmes and the twins. Gripping the building with one hand, Ironhide tried to slow his descent while using his other hand to hold the others.

Meanwhile, the ship began to spin out of control, moving away from the city and towards the mountains. The Aerialbots crashed into one another. Drift was trying to put out the fire while Sideswipe and Mirage held onto some nearby poles. "Crosshairs!" Optimus yelled as helped Prowl up who had fallen when the ship was hit.

"The slaggers hit the rear thrusters! We can't stand airborne like this!" The paratrooper shouted. "I'm going to try and manage a controlled crash! Recommend you hang onto something!" He yelled as he tried to steady the ship the best he could.

:Megatron, target has been hit. The ship has steered off and into the mountains. But I saw some Autobots jump out before that: Brawl reported.

"No matter, well done Brawl." Replied Megatron. He turned towards his forces. "Climb up there! Surround them and cut off their escape! I want that Seed!"

The drones all gave clicks in response before beginning their ascent up to the rooftops, climbing up the buildings and knocking off debris and other items doing so. At that time, multiple grey Eurofighter Typhoon jets flew overhead. Leading them was a bluish-grey MiG-29 Fulcrum. :Lord Megatron, this is Dreadwing. I've just arrived with Vehicon reinforcements. I await your orders:

"Excellent, Dreadwing. Have ground forces converge onto the Seed's location. Air support shall remain in the skies. Do not allow any human forces into the city." Megatron ordered.

:It shall be done: Dreadwing replied before flying off, the squadron right behind him.

In an alleyway, near the Autobots and humans, Attinger watched the whole thing going on. He cursed again as he realized that nothing was going in his favor. The only hope he had was that Lockdown would return for Optimus. If the mercenary could distract the Autobots and Decepticons, then Attinger could grab the Seed.

"What's the plan, Harold?" Asked Savoy.

Attinger clenched his fists. "We hang back for now. Wait for an opening." He replied as the two men went to find the Seed.

Back with the Autobots, they and their human allies managed to recover. Hound lifted his triple-barrel minigun, and made his way over to the edge of the roof to check on Ironhide and the others. "You guys okay?" The commando asked.

"We're good!" Yelled Ironhide. "We'll try and find a place to regroup."

Meanwhile, Jazz was trying to call the others. "Optimus, Autobots, come in?" He shook his head when he got no response. "Nothing"

"They might've taken some damage. It will be a while before we can contact them." Jolt commented.

A plasma shot flew right past Jolt, nearly hitting the junior medic's face. On another building was a red drone, plasma rifle out. "Hostile!" The blue mech shouted.

"I got him! Eat lead, bitch!" Hound roared as he fired his weapon. The barrage of bullets tore through the drone's chestplate, ripping it in half. The force knocked it off the building.

"We got some more down here!" Shouted Ironhide as he destroyed two drones with his cannons. Chromia shot the leg off another drone, while Elita and Arcee finished it off with their blades through its head. Skids and Mudflap managed to take down another drone with their neutron LMG.

Cade watched all this before looking at Joshua. "I thought Megatron took over one drone?" He asked.

"Well, now he's got control over my others too." Replied Joshua as the two men picked up the duffle bag.

"Then that's bad. They're going to have us surrounded soon." Jazz commented, his shield blaster out. "Ironhide! You guys keep moving forward. I see an elevator up ahead. We'll escort the humans there and meet you down below after that. Try and secure a meeting point."

Ironhide nodded. "Understood, we'll meet you there." Replied the weapon specialist.

The next few minutes consisted of the two groups moving forward, taking down any drones that got in their way and navigate through the mazes of buildings. The Autobots on top had the extra responsibility of escorting the humans, who were carrying the Seed, towards the elevator. Jazz was at the front while Bumblebee and Jolt guarded the sides and Hound coming up from behind.

"They're trying to box us in!" Jolt yelled as he fired an electric bolt at another drone, blowing its head off. Next to him Bumblebee gunned down a drone that was aiming at the humans.

"Don't let them! We're almost to the elevator!" Yelled Jazz as he blocked a plasma shot from a drone with his shield, before firing his own shot that blew off the right side of the drone. "Hound, how's the rear?"

"Not good! Not good! We're being flanked!" Shouted Hound over the noise of his weapon. He spotted three drones readying rockets. "Move!" Hound yelled as he jumped to the other building, avoiding the projectiles. Unfortunately, his weight made him crashed into the building. "Ack! My fat ass is stuck! Bee, need assistance!" The commando yelled.

Chirping in response, Bumblebee fired two rockets at the drones. They blew two drones apart and sent the third falling off the building.

Hound had finally managed to free himself when several Cons, including Stinger and Stockade, fired at him from the street. "We got hostiles below!" The command shouted as he pulled out one of his shotguns.

"I got them!" Jazz shouted as he did a jump. He charged up his shield blaster and fired two photon missiles while in mid-air. Stockade and Stinger managed to get out of the way, but the other drones were destroyed. The two Cons continued firing, but were forced to retreat when the Autobots on the ground arrived and shot at them.

"That's right! Ya better run, ya fools!" Shouted Skids at the retreating Cons.

Arcee looked at the others. "Was it just me, or did that red drone look like Bumblebee? And with a claw-shaped plasma cannon?"

"Never mind that" Ironhide said. He looked upwards. "You guys, okay?" He asked Jazz and Hound.

"Okay up here!" Jazz shouted as he and Hound began making their way down. "Jolt and Bumblebee are escorting the humans to the elevator. We'll meet with them up ahead."

"I just hope the guys back at the Ark are having better luck then us." Chromia commented.

 **(Illinois, the Ark)**

The past few hours were quiet. Warpath, Evac and Cliffjumper were busy moving train cars to act as makeshift barriers for when the Decepticons. Meanwhile Wheeljack, Ratchet, the Wreckers and mini-cons were hard at work, doing what they can to get Omega Supreme operational quickly. Adam was sitting at the edge of the Ark's ramp, running his fingers gently on the metallic parts of his right arm.

"Damn, Omega really took a beating." Leadfoot said as he patched up a part of the giant mech's wing.

Roadbuster reattached some wires across from Leadfoot. "Yeah, but we'll get him back up and gunning down some buggers soon." The green mech commented confidently.

"That may be more difficult than you think, Roadbuster." Wheeljack said from inside the Ark. He and Fixit were just finishing up with one of the thrusters. "Some of the necessary components are too damaged to fix. We'll have to try and bypass them to get our friend Omega back in the air."

Back outside, Evac approached Cliffjumper, who was staring the area intently. "Anything yet?" Evac asked.

"No, nothing" The red mech responded, his optics still scanning. He stopped suddenly, zooming in. A few seconds later, his optics widened. A good distance away, Cliffjumper could make out a large dust cloud. Soon, several silhouettes began to form, with more joining them. It didn't take long for the forms to take on the appearance of an army of Rally Fighters. Leading them were Wreckage, Fracture, Swindle, Payload, Dropkick, Sideways, Overkill, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scrapper, and Rampage, with Incinerator flying above them. "It's them! The Decepticons are here!" Cliffjumper shouted.

The announcement got the Autobots moving. The Wreckers stopped what they were doing and readied their weapons. Evac had Adam get inside the Ark before joining the others. "Doc, you and Jack continue working with the mini-cons in getting Omega ready to go. We'll make sure these bastards don't bother ya!" Leadfoot shouted as Steeljaw ran beside him.

"They're in range! Let it loose, Warpath!" Yelled Cliffjumper as he had his plasma cannon ready.

"Pow! Don't need to tell me twice, Cliff!" Roared Warpath as he transformed into his tank mode. Lining up his cannon, the large Autobot fired a shell right towards the oncoming Decepticons. The projectile destroyed a drone and sent two more flying, heavily damaged. "Bam! Three for one!" Warpath shouted as he fired another round, destroying more drones. Overkill was hit by this round, but thankfully did not take the full blast, and was instead knocked to his side.

Seeing how grouping tightly was not working, the Decepticons separated, spreading out across the field. They then transformed and fired back at the Autobots. Each one was leading a group of drones. To the right Payload, a large purple one-eyed optic Con, and Swindle, a shorter tan-brown Con. were leading one group. While on the left, Fracture, Dropkick and Sideways led another group. Wreckage and Incinerator fired their weapons from the middle, along with the Constructicons. Overkill managed to transform and get back up, joining Payload and Swindle.

The Autobots returned fire. Warpath had transformed back into his robot mode, and unleashed his right arm-mounted Minigun, and his left arm-mounted thermo rocket cannon, firing three missiles at a time. He also fired his chest-mounted plasma cannon too. Cliffjumper was laying waste to several drones from his plasma cannon, Evac shooting his wrist-concussion blasters, while the Wreckers fired their arm-mounted chain guns, and shoulder-mounted missile launchers. Ratchet remained at the rear, machine gun ready.

The next couple of minutes consisted of gunfire, explosions and cursing every now and then. However, it was clear that the Autobots were holding their own. While they had lesser numbers, they did have the advantage of good protection, having set up the train cars beforehand. Meanwhile the Decepticons were stuck out in the open field with no cover at all, making them easier targets for the Autobots. Seeing this, Mixmaster transformed into his cannon mode. Firing his triple-barrel plasma cannon at the train cars, said cars were soon blown away, weakening the Autobots' defensive parameters. The explosions also stunned the Autobots, as the rising dust and smoke blocked their vision. The groups on the side began to advance, followed by the one in the middle.

"They're getting closer!" Evac yelled as he fired again, taking down another drone.

"Just keep blasting them!" Topspin shouted. A drone got close enough and lunged at the blue Wrecker, but Topspin was quicker, activating his high pressure claws and grabbed the drone. He then swiftly tore the prototype in half. Roadbuster grabbed another drone that was too close and cut it down with his left arm-mounted chainsaw.

Several more drones began charging, claws out, while the others and the Decepticons continued firing. By then Ratchet had joined in, firing alongside the other Autobots. "They're trying to flank us!" The medic warned.

"In that case, Cliff, you and the Wreckers cover the side. The rest of us will hammer the Cons here!" Warpath ordered as he gunned down several more drones.

Cliffjumper nodded. "We're on it-Whoa!" The red scout yelled as he ducked, barely avoiding a yellow flail from hitting him. Unfortunately, the flail instead struck Evac, who was directly behind Cliffjumper. The blue mech let out a shout of pain before being knocked to the ground.

"Evac!" Ratchet shouted as he ran to the young mech's side.

Cliffjumper looked at Evac before shifting his attention towards Scrapper, the Con who had attacked him. The Constructicon drew his weapon back, and then launched it forward. With a growl, Cliffjumper dodged the flail again, and this time charged towards the yellow Constructicon. The red Autobot had his energy blade ready as Scrapper attacked him again.

Dodging the flail, Cliffjumper swung his blade and cut the chain in half, separating the weapon from Scrapper. Seeing this, the yellow Con fired his machine gun, while his other morphed his other hand back to normal. Nearby drones tried to help, but were taken down by Leadfoot's rockets, covering Cliffjumper.

Said mech dodged Scrapper's attempts to shoot him, and was soon right in front of him. The yellow Constructicon tried to punch him, but Cliffjumper stepped to the side and rammed his blade through Scrapper's neck. "Gack!" Choked the Con, grabbing Cliffjumper's blade arm and tried to get the red bot away from him. But Cliffjumper was faster; ramming his right arm, the plasma cannon, next to Scrapper's face, he fired several shots. The result was the Con's head flying off and his body falling backwards onto the ground with a loud thump.

Seeing their comrade being killed, Long Haul and Mixmaster fired their missile launcher and tri-cannon respectively. Rampage fired his plasma cannons, hitting Warpath in the chest but doing no significant damages. However, the other two's attack hit the front of the Ark. The occupants inside the ship tumbled at the sudden hit. "Everyone okay?" Wheeljack shouted from the console.

Wheelie was in the room where the hatchlings were, along with Brains. The young Cybertronians had been awaken by the impact to the Ark. They were making their displeasure known with squeaks and clicks, moving around in their cradles. "We're fine, but the tikes are having a hissy fit!" Responded Wheelie.

Back with Adam and Rewind outside the engine room, the young boy fell backwards. Unconsciously, he grabbed Jetfire's axe that was nearby as a mean to support himself with his left hand. What Adam did not expect, however, was the axe to shine a bright light and begin to shrink down. In a few seconds, the two were staring at a now shrunken axe that was around Adam's size. It had a pair of crescent-shaped blades, that reflected the light against its smooth silver, and a long handle. Blue sparks could be seen running down the weapon, as well as Adam's hand.

"Whoa…" Rewind muttered as he watched Adam pick the weapon up. The young hybrid examined the blade. As he did, Adam recall Evac telling him that the Allspark could not only create life and supply an infinite amount of energon, but also be used to heal Cybertronians too. And yet, Jetfire's axe was not damage, nor did it come to life. Instead, it had taken on a new form entirely, suiting Adam in fact.

It made Adam recall a time when he was very young, around the same time when the battle of Mission City happened. Adam had broken his left arm when he fell from a branch of a tree he had been trying to climb. It was only him and his mother who saw that Adam's entire arm had been encased in silver, metallic material, healing the broken bones too. Though they were not sure why, Lucy had Adam promise not to tell anyone what had happened, and lie saying that it was prosthetic.

"Wait a minute" Adam whispered an idea coming to mind. What if this was some kind of new power that the Allspark had given Adam? Or maybe an ability that the cube always had. It had given Adam a new arm when he broke his old one, and customized Jetfire's large axe to give him a weapon to defend himself. And if Adam could use the Allspark's other powers, then maybe he could even fix Omega Supreme. Carefully, Adam made his way towards the engine room, Rewind right behind him.

Back at the forward part of the Ark, Wheeljack and Fixit were working double time to get Omega repaired. The two were working as fast as they could, but faced many problems. They still had other areas that required fixing, and not all of it could be repaired, not without replacement parts. Worse, they realized that Omega needed more energy in order to fly properly without crashing, and so they had to work out a way to divide the energy they had to the parts that were essential for Omega Supreme's mobility.

Suddenly, they reeled back when blue electricity danced across the console, spreading throughout the Ark. "By Primus…" Wheeljack murmured as he watched the lights of the ship come back on. The engine began to rumble to life. "W-what's going on?" Asked the inventor.

"It looks like Omega's systems have repaired themselves." Answered Fixit as he checked everything. "I am also detecting a large energy signature coming from the engine room, however, it's disappeared now."

"Rewind, what's going on in there?" Asked Wheeljack as he continued to watch the repairs happening.

:It's, it's kind of hard to explain. I tell you everything later. Right now, we should focus on those Cons outside: Replied the mini-con, who was currently helping Adam stand up. The young hybrid was feeling exhausted after repairing the ship. It was just fortunate that his gamble had worked in the first place.

Back with Wheeljack, the inventor headed over to the console. "Omega, what's the status on your systems?"

"Status: systems fully online and functional." Replied the giant mech.

"Prep the engines for launch. Fire your main cannons at those Cons so we can buy the others time to get on." Ordered Wheeljack.

"Confirmed. Preparing main blasters." Omega replied.

The Ark began to hover a few inches off the ground, moving slightly as the two large cannons pointed towards the direction of the Decepticons. "Targets locked. Firing" Omega said as he fired two Ionic Plasma Blasters.

The Decepticons had no idea what hit them. One moment they were pressing the advantage against the Autobots. And then two beams of condensed energy struck them. The ones on the sides were more fortunate, however the ones in the middle were not. Mixmaster's shields were gone, and the upper part part of his body had been disintegrated. Rampage's tail-leg was destroyed, along with most of his chest and right arm. Long Haul managed to survive, sustaining multiple burns. Multiple drones were destroyed or damaged in the process.

"Bam, that's what I call some serious firepower!" Exclaimed Warpath as he blasted another drone's head off.

:Don't just stand there, you lot! Hurry and get aboard while Omega has them pinned. I'm preparing the thrusters: Wheeljack said as Omega continued firing his weapons. The Decepticons were forced to take cover as they were bombarded by the giant Autobot.

"He's right, let's fall back to the Ark. Ratchet, grab Evac and get moving. We'll cover you." Cliffjumper ordered as he fired his cannon.

The yellow green Chief Medic helped up Evac and began guiding him to the ship's ramp. Steeljaw dashed ahead of them, while the Wreckers and Cliffjumper guard the sides. Warpath followed behind, weapons still out and firing, their noise mixing in with Omega's cannons. Waiting for them at the ramp was Fixit.

Fracture growled as she aimed her energy blaster at the Ark. "All units, concentrate fire on the ship! It's shields are not up yet!" She ordered as she prepared to fire.

Rockets struck the Decepticon lines from the back, destroying several drones. Shocked, Fracture spun around and saw several armed helicopters flying towards them. They gave off no energon signatures, thus had to be human helicopters.

In one of the choppers was former NEST member, Colonel Lennox. The man looked at the Decepticons and then at the Autobots as the latter retreated into the Ark. "All units, confirm you have visual of Decepticons on the ground." Lennox ordered through his headphones.

" _Confirmed, Colonel. What about the alien ship?"_ A pilot asked.

"Ignore the Ark, it's not showing any hostile movements. Focus fire on the NBEs on the ground. They are the primary targets." Replied Lennox.

" _Copy that. Firing"_

Soon waves of rockets and bullets rain down upon the Decepticons' position, distracting them from the rising Ark. Soon, most of the drones had been destroyed, leaving a handful of the man-made prototypes and the Decepticons. Fracture snarled as she raised her arms in an attempt to defend herself. "Decepticons! Fall back! Let the drones cover us!" She ordered as she swiftly transformed and took off. Overkill, Swindle, Payload, Long Haul, Sideways, Dropkick, and Wreckage followed her, while Incinerator took to the skies and escaped.

Lennox shifted his attention from the fleeing Decepticons towards the Ark. The Autubot ship was now high above them, and in a few seconds, took off at an incredible speed. "Epps, did you see where it's going?" Lennox asked through the radio.

" _Yeah I saw it. Judging by the direction it was going, I have to say that it's heading towards Hong Kong."_ Robert Epps replied.

 **(Unknown Location)**

"-Prime! Optimus Prime!"

Systems rebooted. Optics began to refocus and come online. Slowly, the Autobot leader rose to his feet, grunting as he rubbed his helm. Once his vision began to clear, Optimus saw that he was no longer aboard the transport ship. Instead he was in a wasteland, surrounded by large mountains of different shapes. Above him, the sky was painted in various colors, like one big rainbow or aurora, the stars still clear despite that.

"W-where am I?" Optimus asked as he got up.

"The Well of Sparks. I have summoned you here." A familiar voice answered.

Startled, Optimus spun around to see the source of the voice. It was a mech around the Prime's height. He had reddish purple armor with a navy cape hanging from his shoulders. On his face was a white mustache and beard, which reached the middle of his chest. On his head he wore a crown that was of the same color as his armor. Finally, his optics, which were blue, showed both wisdom and kindness at once. It did not take long for Optimus to recognize the mech.

"Alpha Trion…" Optimus murmured, gazing upon the figure of his mentor, old friend and caretaker.

The ancient mech. "It's good to see you, my young student." Replied Alpha Trion.

Optimus walked up towards the old mech. A part of him wanted to reach out, to touch the Cybertronian that had raised him since he was a hatchling. "How, how is this possible?" Asked Optimus.

"Even in my death, we Primes possess the power to speak with those from the beyond. Such as we did with the human, Sam Witwicky, and then with you." Trion chuckled at the look of shock on Optimus's face. "Yes, I am one of the Thirteen. Though, rather being a warrior like most of my brothers, the pursuit and sharing of knowledge and wisdom was my area expertise."

Optimus just stared at his mentor, trying to download all this information. Eventually, he managed to speak. "I-I have so many questions."

"You speak of Lockdown, and these beings he serves." Alpha Trion said.

The young Prime nodded. "Is what he said true? That I was built? Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Optimus asked desperately.

A sad look appeared on Trion's optics as he gazed at his young pupil. "Optimus, there was much I didn't tell you or Sentinel. Things I did not believe you were ready for. Knowledge can be a powerful weapon, and sometimes it can turn even the best of us to darkness. Perhaps the events with my brother, the Fallen, led me to do what I did. Or maybe it was something else. All I can say is that you must follow your own choices, trust your own decisions."

"I am not sure what I want. So much has happened, things have progressed so quickly ever since we came to Earth." Optimus replied, looking at the ground.

"Optimus" Trion said, getting the young Prime's attention. "The fate between Earth and Cybertron is deeper than you know. Did you think it was just a coincidence that the Allspark would arrive here? Or that the human Sam Witwicky would find the matrix, and bring you back? No, our worlds have been aligned with one another long before that, even before we Primes came here with the Sun Harvester."

"Is that why the Allspark passed its power and energy to a human female, and birthed Adam Nova?" Asked Optimus.

"Yes. Young Nova is a bridge, a bridge between our races, a bridge as I mentioned before formed long before current events. His existence is paramount to the survival of our worlds. Both humans and Cybertronians must band together to face a coming darkness. But, that will not be possible if you give up on yourself, Optimus." Trion explained.

Suddenly, dust began to pick up, going faster and faster. They slowly obscured Optimus vision as they surrounded the young Prime. When all he could see of Trion was a silhouette, the ancient mech spoke one last time. "Optimus, though the centuries have been nothing but hardships on you. Know that we, the Thirteen, are proud of you, descendant of Prima. You have proven yourself truly worthy of the title, Prime."

 **(Real World)**

"Optimus. Optimus, sir!" A new voice said. "Sir, please respond."

Shuttering, Prime's optic opened. This time, instead of a wasteland, high rocks, trees and the bright blue sky, and puffy clouds of Earth greeted him. Surrounding him were Prowl, Mirage, Crosshairs, Sideswipe, Drift, Breakaway, Silverbolt and Air Raid. "Optimus, are you okay?" The lieutenant asked.

"I'm fine, Prowl." Optimus said as he slowly got up. The Autobot leader checked his systems, making sure everything was in order. Once that was done, Optimus asked, "What happened?"

"The transport ship was shot down by the Decepticons." Prowl answered, pointing to said vessel. The ship was surrounded by dirt and grass, deep in the ground. The tail had broken off during the crash, and the front of the ship had crashed into the mountain. Sparks and smoke could be seen coming off it. "Crosshairs managed to land the ship, though it's not longer flyable. We're about a hundred or so miles away from the city, deep within the Wulong Valley."

"You're welcome, by the way." Said Crosshairs.

Suddenly the Autobots' coms came to life. :Optimus, come in! Are you there, Optimus? Roger me! Wilco me! Hello. Hello, Prime?!: Jazz's voice shouted.

"I'm here, Jazz. We're undamaged from the crash." Responded Optimus. "What's the status on your end?"

:No losses on our end. We managed to regroup with the humans somewhere in the city. However, we got a large aft-number of Decepticons and Vehicons closing in on us from ground and air, and-Hound, stop that, man! You can't squish the baldy! I don't care what he said. Skids, Mudflap, damnit! Quit egging him on!: There was a pause, followed by background chatter before the saboteur got back to Prime. :We're going to need some serious back-up to get out of this mess:

"The Aerialbots will be coming to provide air support." Optimus said, looking at the Autobot flyers. The three nodded before transforming, blasting off and out of the cavern. "The rest of us will be behind them. In the meantime, escort the humans and Seed out of the city, towards the mountains."

:Copy that, Prime. Wish us luck!: Replied Jazz before ending the transmission.

"Optimus." Prowl began. "Even in our vehicle mode, the time it would take us to reach them is two Earth hours at best. And if we get there in time, the Decepticons still outnumber us."

Optimus frowned, knowing Prowl was right. Though his second-in-command was not suggesting too abandon their comrades, the Autobot leader could see that it would take a larger group to prevail…or stronger warriors. Optimus's optics shifted towards the downed transport ship. Clenching his fists, the Autobot leader headed over to the vessel. "Than it's time for us to get reinforcements." Optimus said, leaving behind five confused Autobots.

A few minutes later, Optimus entered the Temenos. Making his way to the center, Optimus pressed a hidden button. Then the center of the platform began to rise, with multiple weapons coming out. They consisted of various arms, like swords, axes, maces, lances, crossbows, shields, whips and so on. One in particular caught Optimus's optics. It was a long claymore, with a double-edged silver blade, while the handle and guard were colored red and blue. On the blade were Cybertronian glyphs, which spelled 'Judgement'. Walking with determination, Optimus approached the blade.

"Recognize, one of your knights." The Prime said as he gripped the handle with both hands. With a strong tug, the blade came out. Optimus took a moment to stare at the sword, looking at his reflection off the blade. The weapon let out a strong shine, as if accepting its new master. Satisfied, Optimus next grabbed the Vector Shield, named after Vector Prime. It also came with an energy cannon and rocket jets attached to it too. Once that was done, the Prime focused on his next task.

With a mighty swing, Optimus destroyed the doors to the largest of the cages in the Temenos. The Cybertronian inside slowly came online, showing bright red optics. Upon seeing Optimus, the warrior growled. **"Prime!"**

Staring at the warrior, Optimus spoke back in the Cybertronian tongue. **"The time has come for the legends to exist once more!"**

 **So, the battle starts. I am working on part two right now. Be sure to leave a review as well.**

 **Wacko12**


	13. Grand Battle Part 2

**Part two of the battle. Lots and lots of action, so be sure to enjoy and review!**

 **(Wulong Valley)**

Prowl didn't know what to expect when Optimus said reinforcements. But as the Autobot leader came out of the ship, followed by seven large Cybertronians, the lieutenant could not hide his shock. Both at that Optimus would free the Knights, and at their sheer size. True, Prowl was not one of the tallest mechs, but these seven were the absolute definition of huge. With the exemption of Omega Supreme, these mechs were larger than any other Cybertornians Prowl has ever seen. The tip of Optimus's helm barely reached the knee joints of the shortest of the seven.

Having read the name labels next to each cell beforehand, Prowl knew the designations of every Knight. First up was the smallest member (small in comparison to the other knights) was Slash, and he carried a pair of scythes. Next up was Snarl, who carried a sword and axe. After him was Scorn, whose left arm was covered by a spiked whip. Beside him was the one called Slug, who held a sword and mace. Then there was the sole flyer of the group, Swoop, holding a sword and crossbow, the only range weapon among them. Next to last was Sludge, the second tallest member, and wielding two spiked lances. Finally, was their leader, the tallest one, Grimlock, carrying a long mace and a retractable flail. All of them were fully armed, and very menacing.

"You got to be kidding me…" Crosshairs muttered as he stared at the Knights.

Sideswipe was next with the comment. "I didn't expect them to be so _big_."

Mirage and Drift were silent, just looking at the knights with wide optics.

"Vanguard, legendary warriors" Optimus began as he turned to face the Knights. "We have been betrayed by those who claim to create us. They, and the one who captured you, threaten us all with death and slavery. So, I have freed you, requesting your aid against these malicious forces. For if we do not unite, then none of us shall remain free."

Grimlock moved to the front. The large Cybertronian glared at the Autobot leader. "And why should we help you, Prime? You may have wisdom, but I see no strength, no power. We have no reason to aid you." Grimlock said.

"I have faced against the Fallen, faced death thousands of times since this war began." Replied Optimus as he held his sword with both hands. "If it is to save my comrades, I will fight even you, Grimlock. So, you either stand with us, or stand against me." He threatened.

That threat did not sit well with Grimlock. The Knight let out a roar as he swung his mace. Optimus skillfully dodged the strike, and then the flail after that. "Prove it to me, to us! Show us your strength, that you are worthy for us to follow!" Roared Grimlock as he attacked again.

Optimus took out the Vector Shield. Gripping his Sword of Judgement in the other, Optimus prepared himself. "Very well, then come at me!" He declared.

"I'll let Prime deal with this." Crosshairs said as he moved back. "No way am I getting involved in this, no way, no how." He added as he climbed up a rock.

"Si, I agree." Mirage added as he stepped away from the two fighting Cybertronians.

"Yep" "Very wise" Sideswipe and Drift said as they joined the two.

Only Prowl remained where he stood, arms crossed. The lieutenant noticed that the other Knights remained in their spots. While a bit barbaric in this time and age, Prowl knew that these warriors only respected power. Plus, centuries of being confined aboard their own ship clearly resulted in built up rage in Grimlock, who was now taking it out on Optimus. This duel between them would determine if the Knights would aid the Autobots or not.

 **(Hong Kong)**

On top of a balcony, Savoy and Attinger watched as the civilians of Hong Kong descent into chaos. The sighting of multiple giant robots caused the residents to panic. The streets were jammed with vehicles and bike riders, with people on foot running on the sidewalks or even over cars and vans. Many of them were trying to escape the city itself, or get to parts that were safer. Local law enforcements were doing their best to present some semblance of order, but it did little good as the fear controlled the peoples' actions.

However, that wasn't what the two CW agents were focusing. From their position, they could see Cade, Tessa, Shane, Joshua, as well as Su and Darcy, who had managed to regroup with the others, moving down a few blocks away. With them were several vehicles, the Autobots in their alt modes. Attinger focused heavily on the black duffel bag being carried by Joshua and Shane.

"We need a way over there." Attinger said to Savoy.

"Moving through the crowd might work. They won't see us until we're close to them. And with all the chaos, we can easily slip out after getting the Seed." Suggested Savoy.

The idea sounded good, but was soon ruined when an explosion occurred, followed by a car flying in the air and people screaming. Coming from the opposite direction were several KSI drones, as well as Vehicons. Leading them was Blackout, the large Con's minigun out and firing. "Shit, looks like this just got harder." Savoy cursed.

"Come on, we can still reach them by going through the alleyways. We'll wait for the right time to grab the Seed before either sides notice." Attinger said as the two men headed off.

Back with the Autobots, they transformed the moment the drones appeared. Ironhide and Hound were at the front, naturally, already firing at the Decepticons, giving the humans time to head towards the nearest shelter. "I'm seeing more hostiles coming from the right." Chromia said as she brought out her photon cannon.

"We won't be able to get to the mountains with this many cons on us." Jolt said, shooting down a drone with an electric bolt.

"This place isn't secured either. We need a better place for the humans to take shelter in." Added Jazz.

Cade looked behind the wall being used as shelter. "I see a store a few blocks down. Will that work?" He asked before moving his head out of the way when a plasma bolt nearly hit him.

"That will do" Replied Jazz. "We'll clear the path for you humans to move. Hound, protect them!" He ordered as he fired his shield blaster.

"Copy that, stay behind me guys, I'll cover ya." Hound said to the humans. "If I stop covering ya, then that means I'm dead. But that an't gonna happen." Added the commando before shooting down a drone.

What happened next consisted of non-stop shooting. More drones had arrived to reinforce Blackout's group. They began using any cover they could find; destroyed buildings, bridge supports, with some even standing on the roof of small buildings. Meanwhile, the Autobots were sticking together, shooting back with equal firepower, slowly moving forward. Hound mowed down several drones with his triple-barrel minigun, before firing his wrist-mounted rockets, blowing up a drone above him. Bumblebee fired his plasma cannon, shooting down a Delta-class Vehicon that had tried to snag the humans. Ironhide, who was at the front, was using a combination of his neutron shell cannons and fist, blowing apart drones or ripping them apart. Jazz was covering the others with his shield blaster, deflecting oncoming projectiles and firing plasma rounds at the same time. The femmes fired their photon cannons, killing Zeta-class Vehicons or damaging larger drones, before finishing them off. They would switch between their wheeled legs or normal feet. Skids and Mudflap were using their neutron LMGs too, and sometimes ganging up on a drone together. They were also making use of anything lying around as makeshift weapons. Jolt was flailing his electric whips, either knocking aside drones that got too close, or electrocuting them to the point that they would explode. All the while, they made sure the humans remained in the center of their circle.

As they got closer to their destination, Blackout fired his chest-mounted energon wave cannon at the Autobots. The blast miss, but the shockwave caused Hound to lose his minigun. "Ah, damn!" Hound cursed as he pulled out one of his shotguns. He fired at Blackout, hitting the Con in the shoulder.

"We're almost to the store!" Jazz yelled. "Ladies, go secure it for the humans."

"On it!" Elita shouted as she shot off a drone's leg. Then the three femmes raced towards the store, making sure the humans were behind them.

Bumblebee blasted the head off a Decepticon just a rocket flew by him. Looking up, the yellow mech saw several more Cons firing from bridges and buildings. :We got contact above!: Bee warned.

"I got them!" Ironhide yelled back as he brought out his Heavy Irons, the long-range assault rifles better suited. He fired several rounds at the Decepticons, hitting them in the heads, chests or legs. One drone was knocked off a roof and crashed next to Blackout. The transformed helicopter growled as he fired his right forearm mounted minigun and left forearm mounted concussion missile launcher, trying to pin the Autobots. Unfortunately, the Autobots fired back, and it took several rockets from Bumblebee to force Blackout in retreating. He would regroup with the second wave and continue the attack.

With only the drones left, the Autobots were able to advance quicker. The six humans continued rushing by them, until they finally reached the store. The Autobots gathered around in a protective circle. Unfortunately, there was little time to relax, as a second wave of Decepticons was coming in. This time, Blackout along with Brawl and Stockade were leading it.

"We have another wave moving in. Get your weapons ready, Autobots, we have to hold this position until Optimus comes." Ordered Jazz.

Several Eurofighter Typhoons flew overhead. They transformed on top of nearby buildings. The Vehicons were about to fire before multiple rockets destroyed them.

Flying in were the Aerialbots. Breakaway transformed and brought out his fusion beam sniper rifle, taking down more Alpha drones from a far. Meanwhile, Air Raid turned back into robot mode and fired his double-barrel scatter blaster, destroying drones before transforming back into jet mode. Silverbolt landed between several drones. Before they could react, the Aerialbot leader brought out his electrostatic bolt cannon, and with several shots, discharged electricity into the drones' systems, frying them from the inside out.

"Hope we're not to late to the party." Silverbolt said to the ground Autobots.

"Eh, you missed the first part. But your entrance makes up for it." Jazz teased.

"Good to know" Replied Silverbolt. He spotted more drones flying towards him. "Leave the aerial forces to us. That should give you guys some breathing room." Silverbolt said before transforming back into jet mode.

"Appreciate it, Silverbolt!" Jazz yelled as the Aerialbots flew off.

Back on the ground, the drones had begun firing on the Autobots and the battle resumed once more. Ironhide was separated from the others when Brawl and two drones attack him. He managed to rip the head off one drone, and blew apart the other with his cannons. Ironhide than focused his attention on Brawl, who was firing his quad-machine gun at the weapon specialist. Ironhide brushed off the bullets and fired back, striking Brawl in the chest and sending the Con crashing into a nearby wall. The black mech was about to rejoin the others when more drones blocked his path.

On their left, Jazz and the femmes were using nearby pillars and buildings for cover, blasting back the Cons that were out in the open. That tactic was working at the moment, keeping the drones away from the humans. Any drones that got too close were deal with by Bumblebee and Jolt in melee combat. Stockade also got into the fight, assisting the drones by firing his scatter shotguns, damaging the yellow and blue mechs' armor before being forced to cover by the femmes. Bonecrusher joined in with his wrist-mounted micro LMGs and fired at the femmes, trying to pin them down, but was forced to cover when attacked from above. Skids and Mudflap had decided to climb up the nearby overpass and fired their Plasma Cannons from above.

To the right, Hound remained besides the store the humans were taken shelter in. With the lost of his minigun, the commando was now using one of his quad-barrel shotguns. He managed to destroy several drones before running out of ammo. Growling, Hound shoved his empty weapon into a charging drone's chest, and then pulling out his other shotgun. Like before he fired wildly, shooting down any drones that got too close until his weapon ran empty. More drones began pouring in, firing at the Commando.

"We're getting flanked! They're pouring in like bugs!" Hound yelled as he pulled out one of his assault rifles. "Give me a hand here, Cade! I need some damn support!"

Hearing the Autobot's words, Cade immediately smashed some glass. He then leveled the gun-blade before firing. His first target was a drone trying to attack Hound from behind. Cade fired an energy bolt that struck the drone in the leg. As the KSI drone hit the ground, Cade finished it off with a shot to the head.

"Ha, ha! Nice one Cade!" Complimented Hound as he fired his rifle, killing a drone. Picking up a nearby truck, Hound used it as a shield while shooting back. Soon, Hound ran out of bullets, and so used his empty rifle to knock a drone down, before impaling it. "They're starting to hit us from the top!" The command shouted as he pulled out his other assault rifle. Firing wildly, Hound shot down a drone that tried to attack him from behind, and then threw the truck at another drone.

Suddenly, Hound was hit in the back by a missile. The impact sent Hound flying into a pillar, sending nearby cars soaring. The attack also caused him to lose his rifle, though fortunately Hound had a machine pistol with him. "Come on you bitches! You're all going to die!" The commando roared as he continued firing.

Several shells flew by, destroying nearby drones. Running up to Hound was Ironhide, who had finally managed to get past Brawl. "Get up, Hound! We need to fall back to the shop!" The weapon specialist said as he helped the commando to his feet. Together, the two regrouped with the others, just as a third wave of drones came pouring in. Picking up a discarded rifle, Hound fired back along with his machine pistol. Ironhide was now shooting both his Heavy Irons.

Back with the others, Jolt fired electric bolts at Stockade, forcing the Con to take cover as drones came in to give assistance. Shooting his whips out, Jolt grabbed the chest of a drone before ripping it out and knocked another one off its feet. A tan yellow mass slammed into the Technician, causing Jolt to hit a building. Getting his processor back together, Jolt looked up and widened his optics when he was facing Bonecrusher. "Scrap!" He swore.

"I got a servo to pick with you, runt!" Bonecrusher snarled as his tail scoop lunged at the blue Autobot. Jolt rolled out of the way before firing his volt cannon at the Con. Bonecrusher raised his arm to protect himself while Jolt ran to regroup with the others. The cantankerous Con growled as he fired his micro LMGs.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee smashed his fist into a drone's face, tearing it off, before firing his plasma cannon at another, blowing a hole through it. Jazz spotted a drone trying to attack Bumblebee from the side. Picking up a nearby manhole cover, the Autobot saboteur tossed it at the drone, decapitating it.

The twins had jumped off the overpass, pouncing on a drone. They began punching the Decepticon repeatedly before tearing its head off. Another drone tried to shoot at them, but was shot between the optics by Cade. "Dis is getting crazy!" Skids shouted as he fired his LMG, killing a drone.

"Yah, but dese Cons die easily, man! No joke!" Added Mudflap as he joined his brother.

Indeed, the drones, both the KSI and Vehicons, were not very durable. But as time went on, their numbers were beginning to overwhelm the Autobots. The third wave was nearly destroyed, but they were soon reinforced by a fourth and fifth group. Alpha and Epsilon Vehicon drones were trying to assist, but the Aerialbots were keeping them occupied for the time being. Rockets, bullets and energy projectiles were flying all over the place as the Decepticons began to slowly push the Autobots back. Furthermore, they were running low on ammo, and were now resorting to either melee or using whatever they could find.

"They're trying to box us in!" Arcee shouted as she fired her cannon. Her blast knocked down a drone, and then she finished it off with a stab to the face.

"Doesn't matter! We hold the line! Optimus will be here soon!" Ordered Jazz. He used his shield as a makeshift club, bashing drones aside or tearing through their armor.

Elita killed another drone before spotting some more running towards them. "Another wave in coming!"

"I got them!" Hound shouted as he ran up to her. He took out two grenades. "Frag out!" Yelled the commando and he threw the grenades.

The projectiles exploded seconds later, killing one drone and blowing away two more. Nearby, Bumblebee had got tangled up in close combat with Stinger. The two were either hitting one another with their fists or firing their plasma cannons.

Ironhide, who had lost his battle rifles, went back to using his shell cannons. He was blasting down drones left and right, before a Delta-class Vehicon grabbed him from behind. It started to squeeze Ironhide, but the weapon specialist, managed to fight back by slamming the drone into a wall. The Con's grip loosened and allowed Ironhide to get free. The black mech then rammed his fist into the drone's chest, violently pulling out wires and gears. Then Ironhide picked up a fallen lamppost and threw it at another drone, who was about to fire a rocket. The makeshift javelin impaled the drone through the chest, killing it instantly.

"Is everyone still online?" Ironhide shouted over the explosions.

Hound, now without a helmet, pushed a Chinese arch on top of some KSI drones. "We're still good, but we're running low on ammo!" Hound yelled back as he got into a fist fight with two-headed drone. Near him, Cade was still firing his weapon, shooting down any Decepticon that came into his line of vision. "They're going to overrun us!"

Some several blocks away, Megatron watched as his army began to slowly tire the Autobots out. The drones were proving quite useful in swarming tactics, though individually they were not very skilled. Still, it was only a matter of time until the Autobots ran out of weapons and power to fight back. "Blackout, regroup with Brawl and Stockade. Organize the final assault wave and attack while the Autobots are still dealing with fourth and fifth wave. They're nearly at their limit, finish them off!"

:Understood, Lord Megatron: Blackout replied.

Suddenly, Dreadwing's voice spoke. :Lord Megatron! Our rear guard is being wiped out!:

Surprised, Megatron snarled. "What?! Who could possibly be attacking us from the rear?"

Megatron's answer came in the form of a deafening roar.

 **(Half an Hour ago, Wulong Valley)**

The duel between Optimus and Grimlock had gone on for some time. Despite his immense size and the range of his weapon, the Knight could not land a single hit on Optimus. Prime was moving too fast for Grimlock to strike. And yet neither of them was willing to give in.

"Listen to me, Grimlock! You cannot face this threat alone!" Optimus said, trying to convince the Knight.

"No! We are strong! Stronger than you!" Roared Grimlock as he swung his weapon again, only for Optimus to duck.

Optimus growled at his opponent's stubbornness and charged forward. "Pride has blinded you! Anger controls you, Grimlock! Wake up and realize that only together, can we survive!" Shouted Optimus as he jumped and delivered a strong punch to Grimlock's face. The large Knight spit out globs of energon from the blow. He lost his grip on his mace and staggered back a little. But, it wasn't enough to beat him, as Grimlock swung his flail to push Optimus back. Then he began to transform, but it was not something the Autobots were expecting. Instead of a Cybertronian or Earth vehicle, Grimlock instead took on the form of a large, grey, horned Tyrannosaurus Rex. In his new form, Grimlock let out another mighty roar, spewing a stream of flames from his mouth.

"Oh no…" Crosshairs moaned as he backed up even further.

"That…was unexpected." Commented Sideswipe.

Drift's optics shuddered as he took the image in. "I was expecting a giant car." The samurai bot said.

Optimus frowned as he stared at his opponent. Then he got into a stance, his shield in front of him. "I see now that words will not reach you, Grimlock. And so, I will communicate in a way you do understand, brute force!" The Prime declared.

Grimlock let out another roar and charged. As he did, he let loose another torrent of flames towards Optimus. The Prime raised his shield cannon to protect him against the oncoming fire. Even then, he could feel the searing heat threatening to melt him. It was only with great endurance and willpower did Optimus come out of it unscathed. By then Grimlock was nearly upon him, mouth open, teeth ready to tear the young Prime apart. But, rather than submit, Optimus let out a war cry and with great strength, swung his shield against the side of Grimlock's face, hard.

The impact stunned the large Knight, and sent him crashing to the ground, kicking up dirt and grass. The other Knights did nothing, merely stood where they were and watched. Likewise, the Autobots also remained where they were, waiting to see what their leader would do next.

Optimus calmly approached the down Grimlock, who was releasing growls. With a single foot, Optimus Prime pinned his opponent down by pushing his own weight down on Grimlock. Using his sword, Prime placed his sword close to Grimlock's optic. "Now, you'll defend my family" Optimus said as he slid his blade across Grimlock's cheek, creating sparks. "Or die" He added grimly.

Grimlock was quiet for a moment. After what seemed like an eternity, did his body relax. "Very well…" He growled, conceding the match.

Optimus nodded. He then climbed on top of the Knight, allowing Grimlock to stand to his full height. He turned to face the others. "Autobots, it's time we show the universe who we are. And why we're here!"

Prowl smirked. "Yes sir" He replied. The lieutenant made his way towards the other knights, followed by the four other Autobots.

Crosshairs just sighed. "Ugh, seriously, you just want to die for the guy. That's leadership, or maybe brainwashing." The paratrooper commented.

"No" Drift said, smiling at his leader. Even Grimlock seemed invigorated by Optimus's charisma, letting out a mighty roar. " _That's_ Optimus Prime!"

The other Knights transformed as well. Swoop took the air as a Pteranodon. Then Scorn transformed into a large Spinosaurus, letting Crosshairs climb on him. Next was Slug, who became a Triceratops, with Drift sitting behind his large frill. Prowl mounted Slash, turning into a Velociraptor. Mirage and Sideswipe got on top of Sludge and Snarl respectively, who had already transformed into an Apatosaurus and a Stegosaurus.

With the Autobots on their mounts, and them and the Knights ready, Optimus raised his sword. "Now, as one, we charge together! Let's roll out!" He declared, and they took off.

Time seemed to move quickly as the six large dinosaurs charged through the valley, plus one flyer. In just a few short minutes, they had already entered the forest and could see Hong Kong. They could already see the smoke rising, as well as the sounds of battle from the distance. Above the buildings were multiple Vehicons, squaring off against the Aerialbots. "Silverbolt, do you read me? We're coming in from the mountains." Optimus said through the coms.

:Optimus! Is that you? What in Primus name are you riding?: Silverbolt asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"No time to explain. What's the situation there?" Ordered Optimus.

:Air Raid, Breakaway and I are pretty much dominating the battle in the air. But the others are pinned down and are close to getting overrun: Reported the flyer. :From up here, it looks like you'll be attacking the Decepticons' flank:

"Then that's where we'll start! Charge!" Optimus ordered. Grimlock let out a roar as he landed in the city outskirts. Before them were several drones, who were clearly surprised by the large knight's presence.

They had no time to react, though, as Grimlock and Optimus were upon them. Optimus would use his shield to brutally bash them, fire his energy cannon, or impale/slice the drones with his sword. Grimlock instead crushed them in his mighty jaw, stomp the Cons under his feet, smack them to the side with his tail, or melt their chassis with his flamethrower. Behind them, the rest of the Autobots and Knights followed.

The group soon went deeper into the city, laying waste to any Decepticon in their path, while remarkably, avoiding any humans. Crosshairs jumped off Scorn, firing his machine pistols, while the Knight did a role, impaling any drone with his spikes, or simply crushing them. Slug simply charged forward, acting like a battering ram. Any drones in his path were either crushed by his feet or skewered against his horns. Drift had both his blades out, cutting down any Deception that tried to attack Slug from the sides or back. Any drone that tried to attack from high positions were thwarted by Sludge and Mirage. The knight would use his long neck to grab any drone, either crushing them with his teeth or simply tossing them aside. Mirage dished out his hook blades, cutting down any Decepticon that was unfortunate to be in their range. Snarl would smash or smack aside any drone in his path, while Sideswipe fired his pulse pistols. The Decepticons tried to shoot the Autobot, but Snarl's upright plating protected the silver warrior from their energy projectiles. Coming up from behind, Slash and Prowl used a stealthier approach. Any Decepticon that was focused on their comrades were swiftly torn apart by Slash's fangs and claws, or blasted from Prowl's SMG. Above, Swoop fired energy bolts from his mouth, or would grab drones and drop them from a high distance. Others he would knock over with his tail and wings.

It was a complete massacre for the Decepticons. No matter what they tried, they were no match for the combine might of the Autobots and Knights. From his position, only a few blocks away, Megatron watched the whole thing with growing anger. "No, no! This can't be happening! How can this be happening?! They're ruining everything!" He roared.

A stray shot hit Megatron in the right shoulder, making him stumble a bit. Dreadwing suddenly landed beside his leader, the grey, one-optic Decepticon coming to Megatron's side. "Lord Megatron! This is not a secured position. We must move you to safety!" Dreadwing said.

"I will not retreat! Not without the Seed!" Megatron snarled.

"The man-made drones are lost, my lord. We still have plenty of Vehicons, though, to assist in the Seed's retrieval. The Seekers are also coming to reinforce us." Explained Dreadwing. "But if you are destroyed here, then the Decepticons will die as well."

Megatron growled again. Nevertheless, he conceded to Dreadwing's argument. With the flyer covering him, the Decepticon leader moved away from the battle.

Back with Jazz's group, the Autobots were still holding their own, but barely. Dozens of drones laid on the streets, destroyed, but more kept coming. Bumblebee was still in a wrestling match with Stinger, and was further away from the others. Hound had managed to defeat his opponent, his combat knife in one of the drone's head, while the other had been blown off. The exhausted commando was leaning against a building, firing his remaining pistol. Skids and Mudflap had latched onto Brawl, banging against the larger Con relentlessly, while avoiding Brawl's hands at the same time. Jazz and Jolt were fighting against Blackout in a firefight, neither side giving ground. The femmes had taken cover near the shop, shooting at Stockade and some drones along with Cade. Ironhide was literally tearing apart drones with his bare hands, before being engaged by Bonecrusher, having no time at all to use his cannons at close range. His armor was covered in multiple scratches and burn marks.

When all seemed lost, it was Hound who first heard the roar. Adjusting his optics, the commando spotted something that made him cheer. "It's Optimus! Optimus is here!"

Everyone else stopped fighting, watching as Grimlock jumped over a pile of destroyed cars, near where Bumblebee was. With a roar, the Knight let loose flames that melted nearby drones, and forcing Stinger to jump off his yellow counterpart.

"Attack!" Roared Optimus as the others arrive, spreading out to help their comrades, cutting swathes through the Decepticon ranks.

Seeing their leader reignited the Autobots' strength. They soon began pushing back the remaining Decepticons with renewed vigor. With their enemies' morale restored and their reinforcements here, the four Cons immediately retreated, leaving the drones to cover them.

Back with Bumblebee, the yellow mech saw three drones and Stinger charging him. Fortunately, Swoop arrived, hovering over Bee with his talons wrapping around his shoulders. As he was lifted into the air, Bumblebee fired his rockets at the Cons, destroying the three drones easily. Stinger, however, managed to dodge them and grabbed onto Bee's legs. Even as Swoop flew higher into the sky, the two mechs continued their match on top of the Knight, who tried to shake Stinger off him.

The next minute or so consisted of Bumblebee and Stinger punching, kicking and shooting each other. All the while trying not to fall off the robotic dinosaur. Their fight was making it increasingly difficult for Swoop to fly properly. Eventually, Stinger managed to pin Bumblebee down, and wrapped his claw-like gun around the Autobot's neck. Just as it seemed he would offline the yellow mech, Swoop slammed against a nearby building, causing Stinger to lose his hold. Seeing an opening, Bumblebee, battle mask down, rammed his plasma cannon into his counterpart's chest. With a powerful blast, Stinger's body was blown apart, nothing but pieces left.

Swoop had managed to land safely on the ground, letting Bee get off. Stinger's remains rained down on them and Bumblebee skillfully caught his doppelganger's head without looking. _"I hate cheap knocks off"_ Bee said as he gave the severed head for Swoop to chew on.

Minutes later, all the drones were destroyed, and the Autobots secured the area. Still riding Grimlock, Optimus looked at the others. "Prowl, Crosshairs, take the knights and secure the perimeter. Mirage, Sideswipe, check on the others. Drift, find a vehicle for the humans to use. Once everyone is accounted for, we're moving." He ordered.

As said Autobots carried out their tasks, Jazz and Elita approached Optimus. Seeing his sparkmate in one piece made Optimus's optics soften. "Are you okay?" He asked the purple femme.

Elita nodded. "We'll be fine, though I admit I thought we were goners there." The eldest femme said.

Looking at Jazz, Optimus asked, "What's the damage?" The Prime asked.

"We're all good, nothing major, Prime-O." Jazz responded as he looked at the others. Ironhide was helping Hound up, while Jolt checked the commando's status. Chromia and Mirage were gathering his scattered weapons. No point in leaving them to let a human find them. Arcee was welcoming Bumblebee, who just came back with Swoop. Sideswipe had to break up a fight between Skids and Mudflap, the twins bickering on who got the most kills. "We should be able to move in a bit." The saboteur reported.

"Good, this position isn't secured. I'll have the Aerialbots fly ahead to find a secure route for us to take where we can wait for the Ark." Optimus said. That's when he noticed the humans approaching him They were covered in dirt, especially Cade, but seemed perfectly okay. The Prime frowned when he spotted Joshua.

"T-that was amazing!" Joshua said as he and the others walked up to Prime and Grimlock. "Awesome work!"

"You!" Exclaimed Optimus, pointing the tip of his blade at Joshua, who flinched in surprise. "It is your actions that will be responsible for the extinction of your race!" The Prime declared.

Hands raised, Joshua tried to defend himself. "Look, I can tell that you're still upset over the whole bio-ethical dilemma, and what happened to your friends. And I understand that now, I would too be very pissed if something like that happened to me, so how-"

Cade cut him off. "Maybe all he wants to hear is that somethings should've never been invented."

To prove Cade's point, Grimlock let out a roar right in front of Joshua, his teeth dangerously close to the KSI head. The man let out a scream as the roar's vibrations nearly knocked him off his feet.

Once that was done, Optimus contacted the others. "Silverbolt, how does it look from the sky?"

:It seems like most of the Decepticons are regrouping up north of the city. I can't tell yet if they're going to attack again or are falling back. However, the south part is clear, I can see a bridge that will lead you out and towards the mountains: Reported Silverbolt.

"Very good. Keep us covered and report of any new developments." Optimus said. "Ratchet, can you read me?"

:Ah, finally!: The chief medical officer exclaimed. :We were having trouble contacting you, Optimus:

"What's your situation?" Asked the Prime.

:The Ark is fully repaired and took off some time ago. We're already flying over Europe and by my calculations, should be at your positions in an hour and thirty minutes at least: Reported Ratchet.

"Good to hear, Prime out." Optimus disconnected the link. "Drift!"

"I found a vehicle, sensei!" The samurai bot reported. Beside him was a blue SUV.

"Good work. Humans, get into the vehicle. We'll escort you safely to the mountains. It's imperative that we get the Seed out of the city, before the Decepticons launch their counteroffensive." Optimus explained as the Autobots prepared to move.

Elsewhere in the city were Attinger and Savoy. The two had managed to hijack an abandoned car a while ago. They were currently parked on a nearby hill that overlooked that part of Hong Kong. Attinger looked through a pair of binoculars, watching as Cade and the others got inside the SUV and took off. Surrounding them were the Autobots and Knights. The man growled as he realized that the situation had gotten a lot more complicated.

"Now what?" Savoy asked, realizing the same thing. "There's no way we can nab the Seed with the Autobots around them."

Suddenly, a beeping sound could be heard from Attinger's coat pocket. Surprised at first, Attinger eventually fished out an alien device, clearly a communicator. Pressing the button, a familiar voice spoke through it.

"Where's my bounty, human?" It asked.

Lockdown, Attinger realized. The bounty hunter had returned to recapture Optimus. At that moment a sinister smile formed on his face. With Lockdown here, getting the Seed would be much easier. "Prime is here, in the city." Attinger replied through the device. "Do what you have to."

High above Hong Kong, Lockdown's ship began its descent through the upper atmosphere. As the city came into view, the Cybertronian mercenary looked from the pilot cockpit. "I attend too." Lockdown said with venom.

 **And there is part two. The Autobots managed to survive on skirmish, only to enter another one. Don't forget to leave a review of what you think.**


	14. Grand Battle Part 3

**The third and final part of the battle. I hope you all enjoy this and be sure to leave reviews. And a merry Christmas to all my readers!**

 **(Hong Kong)**

Few minutes after the battle, the Autobots were now driving through the city, with the Knights moving with them. The Aerialbots and Swoop flew in the air above them. In between the group were the humans, with Shane driving the borrowed vehicle, riding shotgun was Cade, with Tessa and Joshua behind them, Seed on the latter's lap, and finally Su and Darcy in the very back. Despite the lack of attacks, everyone was tense. There was no telling what might happen, they were not out of danger yet. That's when the Seed suddenly moved, and blinking a blue light.

The humans gasped, as the action unnerved the humans. "What did you just do?" Asked Cade, looking at Joshua.

Said man raised his hands defensively. "I, I don't know. I don't know, but it's clearly an issue." Joshua replied.

"Did you press a button?" Cade asked.

"Don't tell me it's going to blow up!" Su said.

"Is it going to blow up?" Darcy asked.

Joshua looked at them. "I said I don't know." He repeated, annoyed.

Cade was not convinced. "Well, you must've pressed something. Because otherwise it wouldn't be beeping right now."

"Is it going to blow up?" Repeated Darcy.

"I don't know!" Joshua shouted, losing his temper because of their constant questions.

"Well, what do you know?" Cade demanded. "Because when a bomb starts beeping, that means something is happening or will happen."

Calming down, Joshua replied. "Look, all I know is that it's a steady, blinking blue light. That could mean a lot of things, like a timer going off or" Joyce paused, an uncomfortable feeling filling him. "Or it's transmitting coordinates."

The whole car went silent. For some reason, that felt a lot worse than being a timer. It was Cade who asked the question, "To who?"

Up ahead, near the bridge that the Autobots were moving towards, the Knight Ship had finally reached the city. Hovering above the waters, Lockdown looked at Hong Kong with disdain. "Have we located Prime?" The mercenary asked one of his men.

"Yes sir, he and the Seed are next to each other. We're also picking up multiple Cybertronian signatures, including the other Knights." The sentry reported.

"Activate the magnet. We'll swallow them all up." Ordered Lockdown.

Back with the Autobots, they were now driving near the Victoria Harbor. It was Bumblebee who first spotted the bridge. :Optimus, I see the bridge up ahead and-what the scrap?!: The yellow mech exclaimed.

Coming into visual, the Autobots, Knights and humans watched as a large amount of debris, vehicles and other metal like substances were being pulled upwards. Looking even higher, they could see the Knight Ship, with a large magnet underneath it. Suddenly, all the metal was released, allowing it to fall back down, nearly hitting the group. Around them, pedestrians were fleeing for their lives, trying not to be sucked up or hit by the falling debris.

"Ah slag, itz Devastator all ova again!" Skids shouted as he watched the whole thing.

"Fall back! Fall back now, or will be sucked up too!" Optimus commanded. "Aerialbots, stay away from that ship or else you'll get caught in the magnetic pull!"

:Roger that, Prime: Silverbolt exclaimed.

:Like we need to be told twice: Commented Air Raid as the three flyers flew away.

Shane had already put the car into reverse, moving far away as he could from the magnet. At the same time, he tried not getting hit by fallen debris or running over nearby pedestrians. The other Autobots and Knights began to run as well. Optimus and Ironhide, who were at the front, transformed into robot mode. The two Autobots were moving as quick as they could, pushing or blasting back any large objects that fell near them. Soon, the nearby ships were being pulled up and then dropped, creating massive waves that knocked the Autobots off their feet. Fortunately, Optimus and Ironhide managed to recover quickly and continued moving.

Ironhide looked at the ship and then at Optimus. "Prime, that fragger Lockdown won't stop until he has us. We need to blast that thing!" Ironhide shouted.

"I know, Ironhide. But it's too far out of range and the fallen debris makes it difficult to aim properly!" Replied Optimus. "Just keep moving, Autobots!"

That's when Silverbolt came in. :Optimus! We may not be able to destroy the magnet, but we can get Lockdown's attention. That should give you time to escape!: The Aerialbot leader said.

The three Autobot flyers flew towards the Cybertronian ship. They immediately released a barrage of rockets at the cruiser, creating multiple explosions. Nearby mercenaries were blown back by the impact, or even knocked off the ship itself. Even from Lockdown's position, the shockwaves could be felt. "Status!" Lockdown demanded.

"Minimal damage, sir. Came from three Cybertronian flyers. Shields are active and thrusters still operational." The sentry replied. "However, the magnet is using up too much energy, we won't be able to repel attacks like those constantly."

Lockdown growled. "The Aerialbots, huh? That explains how Prime escaped in the first place." He mumbled. "Dispatched assault fighters and deactivate the magnet for now. I want one group keeping those Aerialbots busy, and the other to find me Optimus!"

 **(With the Decepticons)**

In another part of the city, several miles away and overlooking from a hill, Megatron and the remaining forces there were watching Lockdown's ship. Along with Blackout, Stockade, Brawl, Bonecrusher and Dreadwing, the Seekers, Divebomb, Overcast and Jetstorm were also present. Divebomb was a yellow and green Con with a Sukhoi Su-35 jet as an alternate mode. Overcast was a black and yellow con with a single optic, who transformed into a Northrop F-5. Jetstorm was the tallest Decepticon there, towering over even Blackout. He was a white and grey mech that turned into a Antonov An-225 Mriya.

"It appears that Lockdown has returned to retrieve Optimus Prime." Stockade noted. "And going through extreme lengths too."

"I do not care about the mercenary or Prime." Megatron growled. "It's the Seed that I want. With the Autobots' attention on Lockdown, it will be much easier for us to retrieve it. Seekers, head out and locate the device immediately."

"Are you insane, Megatron?" Protested Starscream. "If we go out there with that giant magnet, we'll be sucked up!"

Starscream was suddenly lifted into the air when Megatron violently wrapped his clawed hand around the Seeker's throat. The Decepticon leader's red optics glared at his subordinate with barely unrestrained fury. "Would you rather deal with me instead?" Megatron snarled before tossing Starscream aside. "Now get moving!"

The Seekers transformed and took off, with Starscream following right behind them. Blackout approached his master. "My lord, what about us? Surely we can be of use."

"You and the other fliers will be on standby, Blackout. Shockwave has sent me word that the Ark is currently inbound from America." Megatron replied. "We can't risk more Autobots interfering with us. Ground forces will remain here for now until given new orders. Understood, Brawl, Stockade?"

"Yes, my lord." The two Cons replied.

 **(With the Humans)**

Cade had no idea how far Shane had done reverse driving, but eventually, Lockdown's magnet moved away, no longer focused on them. That gave the young man time to turn around and drive properly now.

"Looks like we lost him." Said Tessa.

"And we got separated from the Autobots too." Added Cade. He was looking out the window, watching as people were moving about, trying to make sense of what was happening in their city. "We got to find them before someone else does."

As if the universe was playing a cruel joke on them, the sound of gunfire caught their attention, followed by bullets hitting the back window of the car. Looking through the rear view mirror, Cade saw a black van ganging up on them. Sticking out the window of the passenger side was Savoy, who was firing a G36 assault rifle.

"Shit! Attinger!" Joshua cursed as he ducked his head.

Shane immediately tried to lose their pursuers but Attinger was keeping hot on their heels. All the while, Savoy continued shooting at them, never running out of ammo. "Where the hell did he get an assault rifle?!" Darcy yelled as a bullet managed to get through a broken piece of the window. Soon, the whole back window shattered.

"Must've pulled it off from a police officer. The Special Duties Unit uses them." Su answered as she covered her head.

"Great to know, now how do we stop them?" Asked Tessa as the bullets kept flying. Around them, people were moving out of the way, not wanting to get run over or shot.

Acting on instinct, Cade smashed his window. He then carefully raised the gun-blade and stuck it outside the car, all the while trying to aim at the van. Savoy saw this and fired at him, trying to hit Yeager. However, Shane's driving made that difficult for that, but it also made it harder for Cade to shoot back. The older Yeager kept firing his alien gun, and finally managed to land a hit. First shot on one of the front wheels, and a three more at the van's engine, causing smoke to rise as Attinger lost control of the vehicle. Unfortunately, Savoy managed to hit the back tire of their car. Both cars were going out of control, Shane's car hit a nearby wall head on, while Attinger's car did a flip and skidded across the ground upside down.

A few seconds later, Cade managed to get the door open, staggering out the damaged vehicle. The others did the same. Coughing, Cade looked at them. "Everyone okay?" He asked.

"I-I think so…" Joshua muttered as he rubbed his head with one hand, and the other holding the bag.

Suddenly bullets soared through the air, just inches away from hitting Cade, making him lose his grip on the gun-blade. Having gotten out of the upside-down van, Savoy resumed firing the assault rifle at them. The man's clothes were tattered and dusty, he had several scratches, and blood going down the left side of his face. However, Savoy's eyes still held the same fury they always had as he continued firing his weapon.

Dodging the bullets, Cade took cover behind an overturn dumpster. The others had closed the blue SUV's doors and pulled their heads down.

A few seconds later, Savoy stopped firing, taking a moment to reload and then pointed his weapon towards them. "It's over, Yeager." Savoy said. "Your Autobot friends aren't here to save you, now. Now hand over that Seed, and I might, _might,_ let you and the others live."

"Even if I wanted to give you the Seed, which I don't, what can you and Attinger do now?" Cade shouted back from behind the dumpster. Eyes glancing the gun-blade. "Joshua told me what happened, Cemetery Wind is done, you and your boss are now wanted fugitives. And besides, are you two oblivious of what's been happening? What your actions have caused? Those drones went wild, the same drones Cemetery Wind and KSI made, nearly wiped out this town and took the Seed, for Megatron, who played you all. Did you even know that if they got it, Megatron would've been able to build a new army and wipe out humanity? It would've been on your heads, Savoy!"

"People make mistakes, Cade. Like when you made the mistake of trusting those aliens and betrayed your own race." Savoy said as he slowly made his way towards the man.

"That has nothing to do with this! Do you even care of what's happening? Or that Lockdown almost took Adam, your only living relative, with him as some kind of prize?" Cade demanded.

That made Savoy paused momentarily. But, he quickly stoned his face. "Just wished he'd taken the brat away with him. If it were just me, I'd just kill him. Because of him, my sister is dead!" Savoy shouted as he raised his weapon, preparing to fire.

At that moment an axe flew past Savoy, cutting the assault rifle in half as the bladed weapon embedded itself into the concrete. Shocked, both men turned to see Adam standing in an alleyway, with his hands out. Cade, was the first to recover, grabbing his weapon just as Savoy pulled out his sidearm. Yeager immediately pointed the gun-blade at Savoy and fired. It took one bolt to not only shoot a hole through the man, but also sent Savoy several feet back before hitting the ground, hard. "And by the way, that was for Lucas." Cade said to the now dead Savoy.

With the threat gone, the others came out of the car, while Adam and Rewind approached them, the former picking the axe up. Tessa immediately ran up to Cade and hugged her father, Cade hugging her back. However, the elder Yeager noticed Adam's eyes on Savoy's body. There was no expression on his face, just a stoic look.

Walking up to the boy, Cade put a hand on Adam. "You okay, kid?" Asked Cade.

"I'm fine" Was all Adam said as he turned around, not giving the body of his uncle another glance. The group of humans plus one Autobot headed off, trying to find the others. None of them noticed a hand smashing through the downed black van.

 **(Autobots)**

Back with the Autobots, the ones on the ground had managed to shake Lockdown, whose focus had shifted towards the Aerialbots. Unfortunately, they had been separated from the humans, who had fled deeper into the city. And now had multiple assault carriers to deal with as said flyers flew towards them. They opened fire, releasing plasma bolts at the Autobots. Humans nearby fled while the Cybertronians opened fire.

"Great, just what we needed! Killers from the sky!" Crosshairs complained as he fired his machine pistols. Ironhide was beside him, firing his cannons as he shot a carrier from the sky. "Just keep focus, Crosshairs! We can't let these slaggers pin us down!"

"Let me at them, I'll have them dropping like insecticons!" Hound declared as he tried to get up, only to be pushed back down by Jolt. The junior medic had placed the commando behind a building for cover.

"You're not doing any fighting until we get a secure place. You took too much damage from those drones and you don't even have any ammunition left. So, stay put!" Jolt ordered as he fired electric bolts at the assault carriers.

Slug came charging through. He performed a jump as he grabbed an assault carrier that was flying by. Tearing off a thruster, the fighter was sent crashing to the ground. The other Knights and Autobots were also doing their best to take down the fighters. However, many of them were still damaged from the previous fight, and were running low on ammunition. Those with melee weapons were also of no help, as the assault carriers were out of range. Thus, the ones with ranged weapons had the responsibility of protecting their allies. Mirage was the only one able to help, dishing out his hooked whips, letting the blades sink into a passing by fighter, and then pulling it apart, and causing it to crash violently.

During the firefight, the Autobot leader noticed they were missing some members. "Where are the humans?" Asked Optimus as he fired his shied blaster at a carrier, shooting its engines.

Prowl was next to Bumblebee, the yellow mech firing his rockets at the fighters. "I don't know sir! We lost track of them when we were falling back from the magnet. They must be somewhere else in the city limits." The lieutenant replied.

That's when something crashed beside them, kicking up cement, dirt, metal and dust. When it all cleared, the fallen object was revealed to be Breakaway. The Aerialbot appeared beaten up and had sparks flying off his armor. "Ugh, those cannons sure pack a punch." Breakaway muttered.

"Breakaway, are you okay?" Optimus asked as Bumblebee helped the Aerialbot up and moved him to cover.

"I'm still flight capable, sir. But those ship turrets are too numerous for us to handle all at once." Reported Breakaway while Jolt checked up on him.

The coms suddenly came to life. :Optimus! Air Raid and I just saw Breakaway go down. Is he…:

"Breakaway is okay, Silverbolt." Replied Optimus. "What's your status?"

:We're fine, Optimus, however we can't keep Lockdown distracted for long. He's slowly making his way towards your position: The Aerialbot responded.

Suddenly, a large shadow engulfed the Autobots. Looking up, Optimus saw Lockdown's ship right above them. Before he could give an order, the ship's magnet activated again. This time the Autobots had no chance of getting away as they felt themselves being pulled up.

"Everyone, grab onto something!" Prowl yelled as he grabbed onto a building. Near him, Jazz and Bumblebee were hanging onto the ground, digging their fingers deep into the cement. The twins were desperately grabbing whatever they could reach, all the while making sure the other didn't get sucked up. Hound was already lifted off the ground, and would've gone up higher if Jolt hadn't wrapped one of his whips around the commando's leg, while using the other one to keep himself in place. Crosshairs had passed by them, and just managed to grab Hound's shoulder. Mirage did the same with his hook whips, impaling them into the ground while Sideswipe grabbed onto the red mech's legs. Breakaway and Drift managed to transform and took the air, with the latter allowing the femmes to grab his tail rotor. Unfortunately, Optimus, Ironhide and the Knights were already being pulled up, and could not grab onto anything.

Optimus finally managed to grab the edge of a nearby roof. However, Ironhide, Grimlock, Sludge and Scorn floated past him, getting closer to the magnet. "Ironhide" Yelled Optimus.

"Prime! Aim for the magnet! It's the only way to shut it down! Hurry!" Shouted Ironhide as he tried to fire his cannon towards said target. Grimlock roared in anger, releasing a stream of flames too.

Hearing his old friend's words, Optimus aimed the Vector Shield at the magnet. Charging it, Optimus let out a yell as he fired several powered-up energy blasts from the cannon upwards. Optimus's efforts were rewarded with explosions coming from Lockdown's ship. The magnetic pull that had trapped the Autobots vanished, and the two mechs and Knights found themselves under the will of gravity, falling back to the ground. Optimus and Ironhide managed to grip the building, slowing their descent. The Knights though, crashed onto the ground hard, but did not seem bothered by the impact. Optimus and Ironhide landed besides Grimlock, a few blocks away from the others due to being pulled by the magnet.

Back with Lockdown, the mercenary scowled as multiple screens were blinking red. "Report!" He demanded.

"The magnet has been destroyed, sir! It's too damage to activate." A sentry reported. "All other systems remain online and we're still in the air."

"Good. Order all assault carriers to perform an all-out air strike on the Autobots. I don't care if Optimus gets hit. I only care that he still functions, that will be enough. And have a ground team prepared. I will be leading them to collect Prime and eliminate any survivors." Ordered Lockdown.

However, before anything could happen. Several fighters were destroyed, followed by multiple explosions hitting the ship. "What the?!" Lockdown cried.

Outside, the Autobots watched as the Ark appeared overhead. It's plasma blasters opened fire, and then unleashed a barrage of thermo missiles from its launchers onto the larger vessel. Explosions followed, with smoke rising from Lockdown's ship as the Ark flew pass it. Multiple assault fighters were destroyed as his rotating blasters fired from all sides, downing them in an instant. Omega did another turn and unleashed his photon laser cannons, damaging the ship's stabilizers. The heavy damage started to show as Lockdown's ship began to descend, fortunately moving away from the buildings and towards the water.

"Looks like the others made it." Said Ironhide as he watched Lockdown's ship crash. He frowned when he saw Optimus walking there.

The Autobot Leader had a focus look on his face as he stared at the vessel. Even from their distance, most of the ship was still above water, slowly sinking. Adjusting his optics, Optimus watched as a single individual managed to jump out of the drowning ship, landing on the pavement. The Prime could make out a murderous look on the Cybertronian's face, and his right hand shifting into a deadly hook.

"Lockdown…" Optimus muttered. Pulling out his sword and shield, he looked at Ironhide and Grimlock, the latter having just gotten up. "Ironhide, regroup with the others and get the Seed to safety." Optimus ordered.

Ironhide frowned, realizing his old friend's intentions. "Optimus, you're not thinking of confronting Lockdown by yourself." He said. The weapon specialist had also spotted Lockdown escaping. If he had to compare the mercenary with Megatron, Ironhide would have to say Lockdown was the greatest threat right now. He was relentless in his work and was known to make things personal. Lockdown would never stop until his target was captured…or dead. In this case, it was Optimus. Ironhide knew that and so did Prime.

But the problem was Optimus's current situation. The Autobot leader had not fought for three years, and had just finished a tough battle. Meanwhile, Lockdown was in top condition and fully armed. Plus, the bounty hunter's obvious rage would also give him a boost when fighting. Statistically, Optimus's chances of winning were not good.

"I have no choice, Ironhide. Even without his ship, Lockdown is a bigger threat than Megatron. He will not stop until he's captured me. The only thing that can solve it if Lockdown is put down…permanently." Replied Optimus as he took off. "Regroup with the others, Ironhide! Protect that Seed!"

Back with the rest of the Autobots, they watched as Omega dominated his opponent, earning cheers from them. "Woohoo! Omega Supreme iz bac in da hizzouse!" Mudflap cheered alongside his twin.

"There you all are!" A voice shouted.

Driving towards the group of Autobots were Cliffjumper, Evac, the Wreckers and Warpath. Evac opened his doors, allowing Adam and Rewind to get out before transforming along with the others.

"Did we make it in time?" Cliffjumper asked as he helped up Bumblebee.

Prowl rubbed his shoulders, trying his best to recover from the intensity of the magnet and how hard it was pulling on his joints. "You're timing was excellent, Cliffjumper. What of the others?"

"Wheeljack, Ratchet and the other mini-cons got off at the valley where the transport ship is with the hatchlings. Currently, Omega Supreme is bombarding Lockdown as you can see." Cliffjumper explained. "We also managed to secure a bridge that will lead us out of the city. But we'd better hurry before the Cons find it."

"Wait, where's Optimus?" Cade asked, noticing the missing Autobot leader.

"He's gone off to confront Lockdown." Replied Ironhide, who had just arrived with the Knights.

"Ironhide!" Elita exclaimed as her sister's mate approached them. "What do you mean he's gone off to fight Lockdown?"

"Lockdown survived the crash. Optimus's went to fight him and finish the mercenary off. Otherwise, he would never get a moment peace." Explained Ironhide.

Elita looked furious. "And you didn't go to help him? Or even stop him?"

"He wouldn't have listened to me anyway. You know how he's like, Elita." Defended Ironhide.

The purple femme said nothing. Instead, she transformed and took off, going in the same direction her sparkmate was heading towards. "Sister, wait!" Chromia shouted.

"The both of them are slagging stubborn!" Ironhide cursed. "But, we've got no choice but to trust them. Our focus is getting the Seed somewhere safe."

Tessa and Shane were getting inside Bumblebee, while Joshua, Su and Darcy were entering Drift. However, the young Yeager noticed someone missing. "Wait, where's dad?"

 **(With the Decepticons)**

Above the Autobots and humans, Thundercracker flew over them. Having watched the whole thing taking place, the Decepticon zoomed in on Joyce, who was still carrying the Seed. "Thundercracker to Megatron. I've located the Seed. It's with the humans and Autobots being prepared to be moved outside the city. Omega Supreme is not with them and neither is Optimus Prime, he's gone to face Lockdown." The Seeker reported.

::Excellent. All Seekers, attack the Autobots and retrieve the Seed. I will send the remaining drones to attack Optimus while he is distracted with his duel against Lockdown. I want Prime's head, but Lockdown alive! The mercenary might prove useful:: Replied Megatron.

 **(With Optimus Prime)**

Optimus had tracked Lockdown's energy signature towards a factory near the water. Smoke could be seen still rising from the ship as it nearly disappeared between the bottom of the water. But there was no sign of Lockdown. "Show yourself, Lockdown. Face me!" Optimus challenged, sword and shield ready.

"Prime!" The bounty hunter shouted from above.

Lockdown jumped down from the factory's roof, firing his cannon at a nearby tower, destroying it. Optimus was forced to shield himself from the falling rubble, giving Lockdown time to attack the Prime with his arm-blade. Lockdown also swapped his cannon for his hook, grabbing Optimus by the shoulder and throwing him against the nearby structure. Optimus let out a grunt as he bashed his shield against Lockdown's face, knocking him back.

With some space now, Optimus swung his sword, slashing against Lockdown's chest, making the mercenary bleed a little energon. However, Lockdown merely struck back, this time kicking Optimus in the chest, and then stabbed him in the shoulder. Optimus countered with another swing with his shield, but Lockdown dodged it, bringing out his cannon again. When Prime tried to strike the mercenary with his sword, Lockdown fired his cannon, knocking the blade out of Optimus's hand. Fortunately, Optimus brought out his energon sword, this time using it and his shield to fight.

During their duel, Cade was slowly making his way towards them. The human had spotted Optimus running off to fight Lockdown, and the inventor felt he had a commitment to help the Prime after all he had done for him and his family. Cade watched as Optimus was slowly being overpowered by Lockdown, more refresh then the Prime. However, before he could act, Cade found himself at gunpoint by Harold Attinger. The former Cemetery Wind leader was covered in dirt and dust, clothes torn, cuts and scratches all over him, and he was limping a little too. But, like Savoy, the man had the same burning rage in his eyes.

That rage was shown when Attinger began to speak. "You don't understand, do you Yeager? How much willpower it takes a man to do what is necessary for their country, for their fellow humans, without any recognition whatsoever!"

Optimus, who had kicked Lockdown back, finally took notice of the two humans. "Cade!" He yelled.

Before he could help, Lockdown knocked the Prime off his feet before grabbing him with his hook and slamming him against a stoned pillar. Knocking away the Vector Shield, the mercenary impaled Optimus with the Judgement Sword.

Eyes still on Cade, Attinger continued his ranting. "There are no good aliens, Yeager! The only sides are us and them! And you, Yeager, you chose them!"

Before he could continue, a purple blur raced past the two humans, while delivering a strong punch to the back of Attinger's head. Elita One knocked Attinger out while racing towards Lockdown, photon cannon out. Cade looked at the purple femme and then at the unconscious Attinger. "Any time." Was all Cade said as he picked up his gun-blade.

Elita had reached Lockdown and opened fire, hitting the mercenary in the back. Lockdown growled as he fired at the femme. But Elita was moving too fast for Lockdown to get a hit, and the purple femme continued shooting, soon joined by Cade. "You will never hurt us again, Lockdown!" Elita roared as she fired another shot.

Lockdown snarled as he swung at the femme with his sword, missing. "Blasted femme!"

Suddenly, Bumblebee came. He briefly opened the door, allowing Shane and Tessa to get out before transforming and joining Elita and Cade against Lockdown. The yellow mech delivered a kick to Lockdown's back, sending the mercenary crashing. Seeing his daughter, Cade could only smile as she and Shane worked to free Optimus. Said Prime watched as Lockdown got back up, blocking a punch from Bumblebee before tossing the yellow mech to the side.

"All of you, get out of here! This my fight!" Optimus pleaded.

"Wrong!" Lockdown shouted as he fired at Elita. The hit missed but the femme lost her footing and slid into some crates. "It's my fight, and you're all going to die!" He said as he attacked Cade.

Elita and Bumblebee immediately got back to their feet, and resumed their attack on Lockdown. Cade had managed to shoot the mercenary's cannon away, forcing Lockdown to rely on his sword and hook. While the femme and human were annoying him with their volley of fire, it was Bumblebee's punches and kick that were Lockdown's primary focus, given that they were around the same size. "I will kill each of you, painfully and slowly. And I will make Prime watch as I do so!" Lockdown threatened as he grabbed Bumblebee by the shoulder and kneed him in the chest. He proceeded to throw Bumblebee to the ground and then kick him aside, straight towards Elita. And thus, the purple femme forced to jump out of the way.

That just left Cade Yeager, who was now pinned by his larger opponent. Cade had managed to raise the gun-blade up in time to block Lockdown's own sword, trying to impale the human. Yeager managed to knock Lockdown's weapon out of his hand, but also lost his own too. Raising his hook, Lockdown declared. "Now you die, you annoying fleshling!"

Before the blow could be struck, however, the mercenary's right arm and hook was cut off with a single blade swing. Surprised, Lockdown spun around…only to have the same blade impale him through the chest, piercing his spark. While the mercenary had been distracted by the femme, mech and human, Shane and Tessa were able to free Optimus with the use of a nearby tow truck. Quickly, Optimus picked up his sword and saved Yeager.

Coughing up energon, Lockdown stood in place, feeling his spark dimming. As the light in Lockdown's optics began to fade, Optimus glared straight at the mercenary's face. "That was for Jetfire, and all the others you killed." The Prime said as he roughly kicked Lockdown's corpse off his blade, causing the body to hit the ground with a resounding thud. Optimus vented some air; at long last, the nightmare was over. He had avenged his Autobots who had been killed for these three long years.

Sadly, the respite was brief, as a rocket sailed overhead. Charging towards the group of three Autobots and three humans were the remaining the KSI drones and Vehicons. Their weapons were out and were heading straight towards them.

Optimus, Bumblebee and Elita prepared themselves for a fight, but turned out it would not be necessary. Landing between them and the oncoming drones was Omega Supreme, now in his robot mode. "Targets: Confirmed. Initiating Assault." Omega said as he raised his left thermo rocket launcher, right photon laser cannon while on his plasma blasters on wings and chest took aim. Finally, the giant Autobot unleashed his arsenals on the drones, obliterating them in an instant. All that was left were pieces. "Targets: Terminated." Omega declared.

"Thank you, Omega." Optimus said as he raised his shield, having used it to protect the humans from the shockwave caused by Omega's weapons. "Prowl, do you read me? This is Optimus." The Prime said over the coms.

::Prime my man! Good to hear from ya! I'm guessing Lockdown is down then?:: Jazz's voice asked.

"Jazz?" Optimus asked. "Yes, Lockdown has been dealt with. Where is Prowl?"

::Prowl is being tended too by Ratchet. We managed to regroup outside the city, but got surprised by the Seekers. The slaggers took the Seed with them:: Jazz reported. ::We saw them flying off with Astrotrain, probably taking Megatron back to their base::

"What?! The Decepticons have the Seed!" Exclaimed Optimus.

::Pretty much. But the good news is that Wheeljack and Adam played around with it before the Cons came. According to them, they reduced the bomb's blast radius to the point it will only have enough metal for one body. In other words, the Decepticons basically got away with damaged goods:: Jazz replied cheerfully.

Optimus felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. "That is indeed good news, Jazz. We'll meet up with you in a bit. Optimus, out." Prime said as he ended the connection.

A moan suddenly, got everyone's attention. Looking towards the source, Optimus's optics hardened as they focused in on the human. Slowly, Harold Attinger was recovering from Elita's sucker punch. As he got up, though, the man noticed a shadow over him. Looking up, Attinger only saw an angry Optimus reaching out for him.

 **And, there you go! Finished just before the new year came in! Please be sure to review! Next chapter is the last one.**

 **Wacko12**


	15. Endings and Beginnings

**And thus, we finally reach the last chapter and bring this story to a close. I hope to get lots of reviews!**

 **(Wulong Valley)**

"Honestly, Hound. Compared between you and Ironhide, I have to say that you probably lose more parts then he does." Ratchet complained as he worked on the commando's wounds.

Hound huffed. "Ack, what's a little life without some risks. Still sent those Cons packing." He defended. His comment earned him a wrench to the head from Ratchet and chuckles from the others.

Despite no longer being flight worthy, the downed transport ship still served as a temporary retreat for the Autobots, letting them lick their wounds from the fight. It also served as a hideout from unwanted eyes. Due to the actions of the Seekers, human military forces had to come from further away. When they did, both the Autobots and Decepticons were long gone, and Lockdown's ship had fully sunk to the bottom of the sea, too deep for human vessels to follow it. Joshua, Su and Darcy opted to remain behind to be picked up by human officials. Joyce promised to take the blame for what happened, and told Cade he would help finding him and Tessa a new home. The whole event seemed to have changed the KSI head, humbling him for the better.

Back at the transport ship, A makeshift medical bay had been made. It currently housed Cliffjumper, Hound, Drift, Sideswipe, Breakaway, and Mirage, with Jolt and Ratchet tending to them. The six Autobots had taken the most damage from the surprised Seeker attack and the battle before. Especially Drift, who had been hit by multiple missiles trying to protect the Seed, was currently in stasis recharge. Several tubes were plugged into him. Jolt was overlooking his condition.

"Drift will live, and I found no other problems with him." Reported Jolt. "However, the damage to his T-Cog was too great, any attempts to repair it might have been fatal. He won't be able to transform into his third mode."

"Better than being unable to transform at all, or worse, offline." Commented Cliffjumper from his berth.

Meanwhile, the other Autobots were doing their own activities. Omega Supreme, Crosshairs, Warpath, Evac, Silverbolt, Air Raid and the Knights were guarding the perimeter. Wheeljack and the Wreckers were working on something next to the ship's thrusters. Inside, the mini-cons were just hanging around, while also helping Fixit find a suitable alt mode. In a larger room, Bumblebee, twins, the femmes, and humans were watching over the hatchlings. The clicking young Cybertronians were eagerly moving about, some climbing the yellow mech and twins who were sitting on the ground, playing with each other or inspecting the humans, curious about these organics.

"I'm glad that the hatchlings were okay during this whole fiasco." Arcee cooed as she held one of said young Cybertronians. She noted that this one was beginning to form another armored layer, this one colored cobalt and yellow, with a hint of white too. "And their colors are beginning to appear too."

"Does that relate to them getting older?" Tessa asked, an amethyst and red hatchling curiously touching her fingers. Beside her were Shane and Cade. Her boyfriend was trying to discourage an auburn and carmine hatchling from biting his arm, an uncomfortable look on his face. Cade just smirked at his discomfort, while also petting the head of a black and lime hatchling, earning purrs from the little one.

"In a way, yes." Elita replied, feeding a Beige and Silver little one. "As our race lives much longer than you humans, the time it takes for us to grow is also longer too. When a Hatchling begins to develop a colored armored layer, that means they will soon become sparklings, the Cybertronian equivalent of a child."

"Fortunately, we already know the genders of each hatchling. Next comes with giving them their designations. It was decided we would do that once their colors began to show." Chromia said as she stopped two hatchlings, one yellow and grey and the other maroon, from hurting one another.

Elsewhere, at the front of the ship, Prowl and Jazz were discussing about recent events. "Even though the Decepticons managed to take the Seed, the young Adam's tampering has make it basically harmless." Prowl said. "However, that doesn't mean we are safe. We have no idea to the Decepticons' current forces, both size and location. You did mention you received communication from another Autobot, right Jazz?"

The saboteur nodded. "Yeah, Camshaft, another scout. Turns out he'd been leading a group of refugees these past two years, taking them to Cuba." Jazz explained.

"Cuba?" Asked Prowl.

"Remember when Flak was killed there, protecting some civilians?" Jazz said. "Well, apparently that put us in a good light in the Cubans' eyes. The country has declared that they will grant asylum to any Autobot on Earth. Might be a good place for us to go to when Optimus comes back."

"Indeed, though where did Optimus go?" Prowl wondered.

Jazz shrugged. "No idea. All he said was that he had some loose ends to tie up or something. Then he took Ironhide and drove off."

 **(With Optimus)**

Miles away from Hong Kong and Wulong Valley, Harold Attinger was roughly tossed to the ground. Coughing, the begrudging man slowly got up, his head in a daze as he regained his bearings. Seconds later, Attinger turned around to see Optimus Prime towering over him. Behind the Autobot leader was Ironhide, arms crossed. The Prime had a neutral look on his face as he stared down at the human responsible for his Autobots' suffering these past three years.

Instinctively, Attinger pulled out his sidearm, pointing it at Optimus. Prime paid the weapon no heed, it's small size not being a threat to him. "So, we finally meet face to face, Optimus Prime." Attinger said, breathing heavily.

Optimus optics shuddered as he looked at the man, who appeared to be slowly losing sanity. However, there was less rage in his spark now. No, he was still angered by the actions of this human, but was mixed with pity too. "You remind me much of him, of Megatron." Optimus began, still ignoring the small gun pointed at him. "He spoke about everything he did, the atrocities he committed, were all for Cybertron, for our people. But in truth, he was doing it for his own greed, his lust for power. I see that same desire within you, human." He added with a pitiful sigh.

"Is there a point to this?" Attinger demanded, weapon still raised. "I hunted you and your Autobots for three years, killed countless of you and Decepticons! You think I care that Cemetery Wind is no more? I can just rebuild! I won't be stopped by the likes of you!" The man spat out, growling almost.

"No, it is over for you." Optimus replied. "The Decepticons are not the only ones who can hack your systems. My saboteur froze your bank accounts, destroyed any assets or sources you possessed. Now, you are wanted by your own nation that you claim to serve. The whole world now knows of the atrocities you and your forces have committed, to both Cybertronians and humans. As of now, you have nothing except for the clothing you wear and the gun in your hands."

The reaction Attinger gave was exactly what Optimus expected. The man's face showed one of shock, disbelief, rage and a bit of insanity. Though he was no sadist like Megatron, Optimus took some measure of delight at the man's despair.

"Originally, I had planned to kill you." Prime said as he turned away. "But, I believe this punishment is more fitting for you. It brings some measure of justice to my fallen Autobots. Farewell."

Attinger didn't even pay attention to him. Optimus and Ironhide drove off, leaving the man on his own. Slowly, Harold look at the pistol in his hand, and then to the sky. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. Then, as if reality was finally hitting him, Attinger let out a cry of despair, before placing the gun's barrel to his chin and then pulled the trigger…

 **(Back with the Autobots)**

Optimus and Ironhide returned to the others a short time later. There had been much talk between the Autobots, humans and Knights, new information being shared as well as cheers to their latest victory. Eventually, Optimus approached Grimlock, now in robot mode. Behind him were the rest of the Knights, while the Autobots stood behind their leader.

"Grimlock, again I thank you and your brothers for coming to my Autobots' aid." Optimus began, speaking softly. "Though our meeting did not go as I had hoped, I wish to make sure there is no hard feeling between us. You and the Vanguards are free to go where you wish."

Grimlock was silent for a moment, looking at the smaller mech. He moved his optics to stare at his team, as if communicating with them. The other Knights nodded in return, and Grimlock faced Optimus again. "Actually Prime, we wish to remain with you and the Autobots." He said.

Optimus was surprised by this, but said nothing as Grimlock continued. "You were right, I was consumed by my pride and anger of what happened to us with Lockdown, that I feared you would use us as slave. I was wrong. You have proven yourself a true leader and honorable warrior. Also, as you said before, only together can we survive what is to come. So" Grimlock said as he raised a hand. "If you would allow us, we would be honored to join the Autobots."

Prime looked at the offered hand and then at Grimlock. Then a smile formed on his faceplate as he took the hand with his own, shaking it. "No Grimlock, the honor is mine. I welcome you and your brothers among us."

There was much cheering of having the seven powerful warriors on their side. The Autobots walked up to welcome their new comrades, who equally greeted them back. Adam then said, "Sweet, so now we have Dinobots on our side!" His comment got looks from the others. "What? Their Autobots that transform into Dinosaurs. Dinobots."

"Dinobots…I like it." Grimlock thought with a smile.

However, the celebration came to an end when Optimus gained everyone's attention. "My fellow Autobots, and human friends. I had thought long on this and come to the conclusion: Earth will not be safe from Lockdown's benefactors so long as I am here. And thus, I have decided to find and confront them myself, alone." The Prime raised a hand when some tried to speak. "I will hear no objections, this is my decision. The rest of you must remain here and protect our human allies. For I believe the fate between our people and theirs runs deeper than we could have ever imagined." The meeting he had with Alpha Trion came back to mind before looking at his second-in-command. "Prowl, I leave command to you, old friend."

Prowl nodded. "Yes, sir, I will not disappoint you." He said.

Optimus nodded and then activated his shield's thrusters. The rockets came to life and in seconds, the Autobot leader was flying into the air, and soon out of the Earth's atmosphere.

 **(One Week Later, Pentagon)**

Walking down the hall towards SecDef's office were Colonel Lennox and General Morshower. It had been a long past few days, dealing with the rogue drones of KSI, apprehending any surviving Cemetery Wind members, and then the whole fiasco in Hong Kong, retrieving Joshua Joyce. Followed by trying to find the Autobots with no such luck. Lennox was at least able to confirm that Ironhide was among the surviving bots. That would make Annabelle happy.

A few minutes later, having walked past Keller's secretary, Lennox and Morshower entered the man's office. Keller was talking to someone on the phone, by the sound of it was the President. The conversation came to an end seconds later and Keller hung up the phone. The two saluted him. "At ease, gentlemen. Have a seat." Keller said.

The two soldiers sat down, facing their superior who began speaking. "First off, I like to thank both of you for your work dealing with those drones. I would've thanked you sooner, but politics were keeping my occupied."

"We understand that sir. We're just glad we were able to stop them before they did any harm." Morshower replied.

Keller nodded. "Now, regarding Cemetery Wind, they have been officially disbanded. Any members, those that weren't at their HQ when it was attack, have been apprehended and are being put on trial. We've also confirmed that Attinger and his right-hand man, Savoy, are dead. We found Harold's body somewhere outside of Hong Kong. Apparently, the man shot himself, probably seeing it as the better alternative then being jailed for life." John explained.

Lennox snorted. He wouldn't weep over that scum's death. Not even Galloway would do what Attinger did. "Sir, what about the Autobots? Have any attempts been made to contact them?" Will asked.

A sigh came from Keller as he responded. "Unfortunately, the leaders of Earth's governments have officially declared that all Cybertronians are now illegal. Any spotted are to be captured or terminated on sight, regardless of faction."

That snapped a nerve in the Colonel. Lennox abruptly stood up and slammed his fist on the desk. "Are they insane?! Did they not read Joshua's report? If the Autobots hadn't acted, then the Decepticons would've wiped us out!" Lennox shouted. Morshowere put a hand on the Colonel's shoulder, trying to calm him and guide him back to his chair.

"I share your view, Colonel. The President too." Keller said. He was not unnerved by the man's brief anger. "However, its out of our hands. The memory of Chicago still hangs onto their mind and the recent event at Hong Kong just added to their fear. They're afraid of possible future devastations. And fear and anger can make people do things that are not wise. Still, despite that, there is some good news."

"Good news, sir?" Morshower asked as Lennox finally sat down.

"A new paramilitary force has been formed. TRF, Transformers Reactionary Force, which is comprised of soldiers from different nations. This time, their backgrounds will be checked to ensure we don't have another Cemetery Wind. I managed to pull some strings, and have you assigned as TRF's commanding officer, Morshower, and have Colonel Lennox assigned to the unit too. Since you both have experience in hunting Decepticons, the governments allowed your entry into TRF." Keller explained.

"I see" Morshower said. "You want us to have TRF to focus more on the Decepticons, while giving the Autobots more freedom and less notice."

"At best, yes. And if you can't, you can at least capture any Autobots you find rather then having them be terminated. KSI will also be helping provide the technology to support TRF, however Joyce is also aware of my plan and has agreed to help, no doubt influence by Optimus Prime." Keller explained. He then looked at Lennox. "Colonel, if you can, I like you to get Sergeant Epps and any other former NEST personnel to join TRF too. Their presence would greatly increase the chances of less conflict with the Autobots. But beware, other members of TRF might oppose you."

Lennox sighed. It wasn't the best plan, but at least it was something. "Fine, whatever helps get rid of the Decepticons faster."

Morshower also nodded in agreement, pleasing Keller. "Thank you, gentlemen. I fear that there will be rough times ahead for all of us. Hopefully we can endure them to a better outcome."

 **(One Month Later, South Dakota)**

"I believe the term for a place like this would be 'the badlands'." Commented Jazz as he looked at the screen.

Hovering in South Dakota, surrounded by the wide dry terrain of the state were the Autobots. They were currently aboard Omega Supreme, who had transform into his alt mode. The giant mech was carrying the damaged transport ship, held by several metal cables, as well as thrusters made by Wheeljack and the Wreckers, to lessen the strain on Omega.

A month had passed since the battle in Hong Kong, as well as Optimus's departure to find his 'Creators'. Since then, Prowl had decided that they needed to find a suitable location to establish a new base for the next few years. The lieutenant had the Aerialbots search the globe for an area that was both isolated from humans, as well as contained a decent size of natural resources that the Autobots could convert into energon. The result were the badlands of South Dakota. Unfortunately, the area was a part of Sioux Land, and thus Cade, Adam and Bumblebee had left to negotiate with their Chief.

Speaking of Cade, it turned out the man was now a fugitive. With Cybertronians now declared illegal by Earth's governments, Cade's willingness to help the Autobots made him a criminal. Fortunately, Shane and Tessa were spared that fate, but only if they were not with Cade. So, with a heavy heart, Cade was forced to stay away from Tessa. The father also told Shane to take care of Tessa, or Cade would come after him, something that the Irish car driver took seriously. They were currently living in New York City, and thanks to Joshua, were able to purchase a decent apartment. While Tessa continued her school life, with eventually going to college, Shane got a job at KSI working as a truck driver for the company's Manhattan branch.

With Adam, the young boy had decided to stay with Cade and the Autobots. Despite not being wanted, he didn't think it was right to separate from his dear friends, Evac and Rewind, and wanted to stay with them. Adam also wanted to learn more about his Cybertronian heritage, and perhaps discover other secrets of his unique powers. The twelve-year old also got along well with Ratchet, the Chief Medical officer teaching Adam about their biology.

Back to the present, Prowl walked up towards the saboteur. "In this case, though, the term 'bad' is actually good for us. If Cade can reach an agreement with the Sioux Chief, this place would be perfect for us to set up a base." Prowl said as the two stood in the command room, along with Ironhide, Ratchet, Silverbolt and Elita.

Omega's voice then covered the room. "Incoming transmission. Origin: Autobot." The mech said.

"It is probably Camshaft." Prowl noted. "Put him on the screen, Omega."

A few seconds later, the screen's image changed to show a silver mech with maroon-colored limbs and a single, large optic. :This is Camshaft. You read me, Autobots?: The mech asked.

"We hear you, Camshaft. What's your status in Cuba?" Asked Prowl.

:Good so far. The humans, Simmons and Dutch, have just returned after negotiating with the Cuban leaders. Any Autobot refugees that arrive are allowed freedom in Cuba so long as it does not interfere with their government or military. In return, they can't make us join their army or give them any technology.: Camshaft explain. :Leo and I are currently helping the refugees settle in an abandoned military base near some mountains, off the coast. You sure you guys don't want to come?:

"Thank you, Camshaft, but I believe our presence would be more useful hear in America." Prowl replied. "Here we can help new arriving Autobots reach Cuba safely, as well as deal with any Decepticons should they decide to attack you and the refugees. Please inform us if anything new develops."

:Will do. Camshaft out: The mech said before ending the transmission.

Prowl looked at his leader's sparkmate. "I know you've already made your decision, but are you sure you and the sisters would not be more comfortable with taking the hatchlings to Cuba? They would be much safer there than with us. I do not mean to sound sexist, but you three are the only ones who can properly take care of the little ones because of your caretaking programing." The lieutenant said, recalling that Elita use to be an educator back on Cybertron before the war.

The purple femme shook her head. "No offense taken, Prowl. And yes, my sisters and I discuss it, and we would feel better here. I know that we are risking the hatchlings' wellbeing by doing this, but none of the refugees have the proper teaching of raising young Cybertronians. Plus, Chromia would not allow herself to be separated from her sparkmate." Elita said, gesturing to Ironhide. "And I personally believe the hatchlings will be better protected here than in Cuba."

Prowl sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing anymore. That's when his personal coms began to beep, alerting him to an incoming message. "Prowl here."

:This is Bumblebee. Cade and Adam have just finishing speaking with the Chief: Reported Bumblebee.

"And?" Prowl asked.

:The Chief's agreed to let us stay near an old junkyard they're not using anymore. I've checked its location and its near where the strongest source of energy is coming from. Plus, the wrecked vehicles could serve as cover for us too, though we might have to work something out with the ship and Dinobots: Bee said as he sent the data to the others. After overlooking it, Prowl agreed that it work well for an HQ, once they added their own modifications that is. With that, Omega carefully lowered the transport ship at the back of the junkyard, while Cade, Adam and Bumblebee watched from a safe distance. The Autobots watched from the Ark's windows, looking at what would be their new home for the foreseeable future.

 **(Mount Yamantau, Decepticon Base)**

"Audio receptors are online"

"All systems including weapons are operational"

"Energy flow is normal, no signs of disruption"

"T-Cog is working perfectly"

"Activating optics"

Megatron's vision began to come on. What greeted him was a single light and a ceiling made of stone, as well as multiple cables. Then Shockwave's face came into view. "How are you feeling, Lord Megatron?"

As the Decepticon Leader raised his arm and flexed his clawed fingers, Megatron commented. "Like I've truly been reborn."

Currently in Flatline's lab, Megatron got up from the operating table. Inside the room with him were Shockwave, Soundwave and Flatline. Laserbeak was perched on a nearby machine, watching the whole thing from above.

Megatron took a moment to take in his new form. It possessed the same grey color format as his original body had. One could best describe his new body as that of a barbaric gladiator, equipped with a retractable face mask too.

"Though the Seed's tampering was unforeseen, the metal we were able to harvest proved useful in creating your new body. I have also managed to recreate your Fusion Cannon, attaching it to your right arm. Upgrades can be made later if you so desire, Lord Megatron." Shockwave explained. "I was also able to create a close combat weapon with the remaining cyber-matter too."

Leaning to the side of the wall was a black sword. It had serrated edges of it, and at the top, formed a crescent-shape tip. Megatron grabbed it with one hand, noticing how the handle could be wielded by two. He swung it around several times, getting a feel of the blade before attaching it to his back.

"Well done, old friend." Megatron said as he looked at Shockwave. "My trust in you was not wasted."

"You honor me, Lord Megatron." Shockwave replied with a bow. "Do you wish to meet the troops, let them know of your status?"

"In due time, however we must first focus on the current structure of our army. What is the condition of our troops, both Decepticons and Vehicons?" Megatron asked.

"Unfortunately, we lost a good portion of our drones during the recent battle. Furthermore, three of the surviving Constructicons were killed, with only Long Haul as the sole survivor." Shockwave began. "Barricade has recently come out of surgery himself. The damage done to him by the Autobot lieutenant required Flatline to give him an entirely new body. We are currently producing more, but it will take a while. In terms of actual Decepticons, we still outnumber the Autobots. Our energon supplies, while not dangerously low, are at a state where we cannot grow new protoforms, and thus must rely on the Vehicons to make the bulk of our forces."

"I see" Megatron hummed as he took all this in. "In that case, here is the current command structure. You shall now be second-in-command, Shockwave, as well as in charge of all scientific endeavors, working alongside Flatline. I shall also be assigning Fracture, Wreckage and Stockade to you, to work as field officers under your command. They are some of the warriors I can trust."

"Understood, Lord Megatron" Replied Shockwave, seeing the logic in that. Flatline also was in agreement.

"Blackout and Brawl shall command the aerial and ground Vehicons respectively. Their authority over them shall be second only to yours and of course, mine. Soundwave, you shall continue with your position as communication officer and hacker. Starscream shall keep his position as leader of the Seekers." Megatron said to another of his trusted soldiers.

Soundwave nodded. "As you command, Lord Megatron. But is it wise to allow Starscream to keep his post? While the others would not betray you, he might try to double-cross you again."

"Which is why I want Thundercracker to watch him. If Starscream does try anything, I want him terminated, immediately." Ordered Megatron. Current events would now allow the tyrant to luxury of punishing traitors as he originally could. "Also, have Barricade meet with me. I intend to head out soon and I want him to serve as my aide and field officer for the time being."

"Out?" Shockwave repeated. "Do you have a destination in mind, Megatron?"

"Before his death, my master, the Fallen, told me many secrets." Megatron said. "Things about Earth we had never known about before. As I watched events unfold the way they did, I realized something is coming. And another opportunity to restore Cybertron is approaching. We must be prepared to play our parts before that time comes." Finished the Decepticon leader as he walked out, followed by Soundwave and Shockwave. All the while, Megatron had new plans forming in his mind, plans to ensure that the Decepticons would come out virtuous, and the Autobots and humans would perish.

 **The final chapter is now done! And with it, so is this story. I will be working on the list of Transformers for my "The Last Knight: Altered" Leave a review!**


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